To evacuate, or not to evacuate

Living in this part of the country means being ready to leave at a moments notice during hurricane season. It was also part of my life growing up. I have been through several tropical storms and category 1 and 2 hurricanes. Not that they are anything to laugh at, but they are not too bad to 'ride' out. In fact, we usually made the most of the extra family time it gave us. The worst part is the few days (or sometimes weeks) you have to live in the heat and humidity without air conditioning, which is something I am much less happy about doing in my pregnant state. And the fact that my girls get freaked out at just a regular thunderstorm makes me feel like we need to leave. If Hurricane Gustav stays on the path that they are predicting right now, I really don't think it will be too bad to stay here and ride out the storm. But with hurricanes being so unpredictable, you just never know if Gustav might change his mind at the last minute and decide to change his course. So, tomorrow we are heading to Houston to hang out and visit with Aaron's cousin, Tiffany and her sweet little family, who have graciously offered us a place of refuge from the wrath of Gustav. So pray for us, and that Gustav doesn't change his mind and follow us to Houston!

A Bad Review

Tonight as I was cooking supper, Katie walked through the kitchen and stopped and asked,

Katie: "What's that smell?"
Me: "What smell?"
Katie: "That horrible smell."
Me: "What does it smell like?"
Katie: "The smell of disaster!"

She obviously was SO NOT impressed with even just the smell of my quesadillas. I knew she wasn't a huge fan of my cooking, but really.......the smell of disaster?! However, she was so serious, it was too funny not to laugh.

Miracles Do Happen!

To say the least, I have been less than impressed with the prenatal clinic I have been going to. Monday I called to talk to a nurse about a problem I am having with my throat, and was told to go to the emergency room if it did not improve. I was caught off guard with her response, since I was expecting her to set up an appointment for me to come in to be seen. I called back a few minutes later and there was no answer. Since I did not feel like it was an emergency, I called back a few days later and asked if I could see the doctor. The lady on the phone said, "No. The doctor is only here on Fridays for a couple of hours and only sees the high risk patients." WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS? Come to find out, I didn't ask the right questions when looking for a doctor. I didn't realize I should have asked how often I would see the doctor. I just assumed that I would see a doctor more than ON THE DAY THAT I DELIVER! I have only been to this clinic twice and on my second visit I did wonder why I didn't see (at least in the hall) the doctor. There were several women in the office ahead of me who were great with child and I do remember thinking, 'Why aren't they seeing the doctor?' and 'If they aren't seeing the doctor, who is?' But in my attempt to be positive, I thought maybe he was busy delivering a baby and surely I would see him next time. NOPE. YOU ONLY GET TO SEE THE DOCTOR ON THE DAY THAT YOU DELIVER. However, she did graciously offer to set up a meeting before my delivery so I could ask any questions I needed to. No. Thank. You. So I hung up the phone very frustrated and suddenly feeling a huge rush of emotion--aka--a serious breakdown. My sweet husband quickly gave me a blessing and assured me that we would find another doctor who would take good care of me. And that did bring me comfort and I knew things would somehow work out. I called the doctor's office that delivered Sarah, who I really liked, and they said they were not taking new patients. I explained that I had not been since they delivered my last child (I know that is really bad), but that I had been a patient there before. She said she didn't think they could take me, but that she would ask and call me back. A few minutes later she called back with the news I was expecting, but didn't want to hear--they couldn't take me. Aaron told me that he would be at the hospital tomorrow and that if he saw the doctor, he would talk to her. I told him to bribe her with whatever kind of yard work he could do for her--mowing, landscaping, trimming, irrigation--whatever--just to beg, plead, and grovel if he had to. He agreed that he would. I called him the next morning and asked if he had see the doctor. He said he hadn't. I hung up very sad and decided I should probably start calling around to see if I could find another doctor. A few minutes later, Kent called and said that he had walked over to this doctor's office and talked to her and her nurse. She told him she would probably get in trouble for taking me, but they got my number and said they would call me. So several minutes and a few phone calls later, I have an appointment with my wonderful doctor that delivered Sarah, and my mind is now at ease. All thanks to my wonderful father-in-law! I officially nominate him for Father-in-Law of the Year!

It's Not Fair

When I used to say that when I was a kid, my mom would always say, "Well life's not fair, so get used to it." I thought at the time it was my mom who wasn't fair, but have since learned that life is indeed not fair. But that doesn't mean I have to like it! Here are a few things that I think are not fair.

1. Being sick while you are pregnant. Isn't the constant need to 'go', the weight gain, and for Pete's sake.....CHILDBIRTH enough?! And not to mention all of the blood, sweat and tears you endure after the sweet bundle arrives! I think every pregnant woman should just naturally feel and look fabulous everyday just as a reward for having to go through childbirth......and beyond.

2. Sick children. Babies and any child under 5 should not be sick. It just isn't right. They can't even tell you what's wrong or what hurts and they just don't understand. My little Sarah is sick right now and as much as I hate to be sick myself, I had much rather be sick than for either of my girls to be sick. I think you shouldn't be able to get sick until you reach the age of 5 (or maybe even the age of accountability) because at least by that age they are mature enough to deal with it a little better and they can tell you what hurts.

3. Crazy tiebreaker rules at the Olympics. It is SO unfair when you have the best routine on the uneven bars and you tie with a girl who didn't even do as good a routine as you did and then the dumb rule makes you second place. Poor Nastia.

4. Presidential candidates who don't 100 percent, whole-heartedly, and without question salute and absolutely adore the American Flag and all that it stands for. I don't think they should even be allowed the honor of running.

5. Chocolate being fattening. I mean, come on. It's been proven that women need chocolate, so why does it have to be fattening? It is made from all natural ingredients and other things that we need to sustain life aren't fattening, like water. When I get to create my own world, chocolate will not be fattening and Santa Clause will be real. And the Easter Bunny too.

That's all for today.

Second Grade, Here She Comes!

Katie went back to school on Friday. We went to Meet and Greet last Wednesday and met her teacher, Mrs. Conner, who recognized Katie from seeing her around school, but didn't know her name. She seemed very nice. Katie has a few friends in her class, including her friend Micah, which she is pretty excited about. Getting the supplies together and going to Meet and Greet really got her excited to go back to school. It is bittersweet for me though. While I love having her home with me and Sarah, I long for a routine that we can't seem to keep during summer.

Sarah asked when we got back home if Katie has to go back to school. I told her that she had to go back in a few days. She didn't say anything for a few minutes, and then I asked her if she was sad that Katie was going back to school. I fully expected her to say yes, because she loves to have Katie home and could hardly wait for school to get out in May. Much to my surprise, her reply was, "NO! We'll have lots of fun without her!" It was pretty funny, especially since I wasn't expecting that reaction. And we have been having a fun time together, just me and my sweet little Sarah. I really thought about putting her in preschool this year, but the fact that it is outrageously expensive and that I am not ready for her to be gone helped me to decide to put her in "Mommy School" instead. I have some workbooks that we are doing and a Hooked on Phonics program that I am doing with her. She is doing really well and LOVES to "do her school work". She also likes to do homework in the afternoon while Katie is doing hers, so I have now started assigning her some 'homework' to keep her occupied and to make her "Mommy School" seem more 'real'.

Our absolutely adorable 2nd grader! When she was in Kindergarten, she used to turn and blow me a kiss and wave to me each day as I dropped her off. In 1st grade, she would turn and wave to me at the beginning of the year, but then by the end of the year she wasn't even doing that anymore. (sniff sniff) So I'm trying not to be too disappointed that she's not doing anything of the sort this year. She's growing up way too fast.

Lunch Date with Maw Maw

The day before school started, Maw Maw came and picked up Katie and took her to lunch to spend some time with her before she went back to school. Katie was so excited, especially since she got to pick the place that she wanted to go eat. She picked 'The Chicken Store', more commonly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken. Afterwards, they stopped by Walgreens to pick up some very necessary last minute school supplies--Jolly Ranchers, lip gloss, and a Hannah Montana watch, which Katie LOVES. A special thanks to Maw Maw for spending some time with Katie, making her feel special, and getting her even more excited to go back to school to show off her Hannah Montana watch.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

I just wanted to wish my hilariously goofy little sister Melissa happy birthday! She is my best friend--right next to my wonderful husband, of course. She is so fun to be around and can always make me laugh. She is also beautiful, kind, and a wonderful mother to her three beautiful children. I love you Melissa and hope you have a fabulous day!

P.S. Please don't hate me for this picture. It just makes me smile and remember the fun we had that day at White Lake. =)

Long Time Gone

I was starting to think I was going to skip the whole morning sickness thing, until it hit me the very day after we got home from North Carolina. I don't know if it was just all of the traveling, lack of sleep, and not eating as well as I should have finally catching up with me, or if was my mom's fault. She prayed that I would feel good while I was in NC. She called me the day after I got home and told me this and I asked if she would start praying that I would feel good in Louisiana too!=) So for the last two and a half weeks, I have been rather pathetic and unproductive as I have only done what was absolutely necessary to try to recover and make it through the day, which obviously has not included blogging. I am very happy to report that my mom's prayers are being heard and I am feeling better, although I still get pretty tired, which is probably due (at least partly) to the lack of exercise in the last month. I hope to get back into my routine of going to SPAR next week, since I have to get up early now to take Katie to school. Hopefully that will help with my fatigue and give me more energy, and I could also use some of those endorphins, to chase away the blahs I've developed from not doing much of anything. I am much more productive when I have a routine. And luckily, I have a long to do list, which should keep me busy for a while.

Poor Cinderella

I just had to record this story about Katie at Camp Singletary before I forget it. Every morning she would wake up earlier than Sarah and I and go find some cousins to play with. One morning I happened to wake up when she was getting out of bed. She told me she was going to get dressed and go play. I told her that was fine, but she needed to brush her teeth after she got dressed. I guess she thinks being on vacation means you should be on vacation from brushing your teeth too because she didn't want to do it. But she did. And when she came back from the bathhouse to put her toothbrush away, I asked her to go and get Sarah's sippy cup for me from the mess hall. I could tell she wasn't happy about doing that either, but she did it and went off to play. A little while later Sarah and I got up and went to the mess hall to get breakfast. I saw my brother Neal and he told me he saw Katie earlier and noticed that she wasn't happy about something. So he asked her, "Why do you have the sad face Katie?" She said, "Because my mama makes me do all the work! It's like she doesn't have legs or something!" I couldn't help but laugh. I wonder how she would feel if I did make her do all of the work.

Camp Singletary

I have many wonderful memories as a kid of summer days spent at Camp Singletary. It is a beautiful state park a few miles from White Lake, NC with cabins and a beautiful lake. Back then it was my Grandma Heath who went with all of her brothers and sisters and their children. Three years ago, my mom and her brothers decided to start going again. So now my girls have grown to love this place (and all of the memories that are made there with aunts, uncles, and cousins for the week) just like I did when I was a kid.

It is such a beautiful place. It makes me sad that Aaron can't go with us, not only because we miss him terribly, but also because I know he would absolutely love it there.

You can tell from this picture that my beloved Tarheel State has been in a drought. The water is usually way closer to the beginning of the pier.

My experience this year at Camp Singletary was quite different from the years before. All of my hormones combined with the extreme heat that we had not had before (since we have been going in June, and had nice, warm days and pretty chilly nights) made for a miserable few days for me, until it finally cooled off with the rain that came in on Wednesday. It's hard to summarize the entire week in one post, but here's my best try to give some of the highlights, without being too long.

SUNDAY--We arrived at camp around noon and unpacked. It didn't take us long to start to question why we thought it was a good idea to go camping for a week in July with no air conditioning. It was so completely hot and downright miserable, that even the kids started to complain.

Some of them even started pouring water on their heads to try to cool off.

You can tell from this sweet, but sweaty face that it was hot. This is my sweet little niece Merry Grace, who bonded so nicely with me last summer, but had completely forgotten our fun time together and pretty much avoided me like the plague. =( I still love her to pieces though!

My little niece Ally Rae turned one on the day we arrived at camp and didn't seem to be bothered by the heat. She's such a cutie.

It was even too hot to sleep, but Luke was giving it his best shot. So because of the extreme heat, we decided to do something we normally don't on Sunday.....we decided to go cool off in Lake Singletary.

Everyone was having a great time until my nephew Dallen spotted something in the water.

Of course all of the kids started to scream, but the snake just stayed there on the bottom of the lake, even with all of the chaos. Thank goodness for Uncle Cory and Aunt Amanda who picked up all of the kids and put them on the pier, since the snake was right by the ladder. As soon as everyone was out, the snake came to the top of the water and swam away. He was just claiming his territory. And although he was gone, it ruined the cooling off party for everyone. I guess that's what we get for not keeping the Sabbath Day holy.

One the way back to camp, Sarah and Marleigh talked about how next time they would kill the snake with this stick they found, that way they could keep on swimming. Right.

MONDAY--It was another scorcher, with the temperature around 100 degrees. Since the kids didn't want to go back to the 'snakey lake', we went to White Lake instead and we all had a blast and spent the good part of the day there.

One of our floats had gotten a hole in it at the beach, and since the girls were fighting over the one good one, I went and bought Sarah this float, which she loved and had the best time playing with.

And when she wasn't playing with her new float, she had a great time playing with Uncle Neal.

And so did the rest of the kids.

All of the kids also enjoyed playing with Uncle Luke because he was launching them into the water. But he paid the price for being the fun uncle, since his sunscreen was apparently rubbed off by all of the kids hanging onto him all day and was sunburned pretty bad. Poor Uncle Luke.

TUESDAY--Another extremely hot day. In the morning we made necklaces and bracelets.

They turned out pretty cute. Then we headed back to White Lake again.

Uncle Neal being attacked and retaliating.

Sarah showed everyone how brave she is by jumping off of the pier.

Poor Kyleigh was so wiped out from all of the fun at the lake that she fell asleep at the table before she could eat her dinner.

The adults playing 'Mormon Rook', a new favorite game to play at camp. Our old favorite was spoons, which has been known to be pretty competitive and a bit on the dangerous side too.

And we had a karaoke party that night, sort of. The kids all loved it and took turns singing some of their favorite songs.

WEDNESDAY--The craft for the day was painting pots, which the girls loved. Sarah picked out this tiny little pot to paint, which you can barely see.

Then it started to rain and rained off and on all day, which was very welcome, as it brought cooler weather. Sarah and I took advantage of the weather and took some much needed naps for a good part of the afternoon. I woke of to the sound of loud thunder and looked outside of our cabin towards the mess hall and saw a fire. I thought for a second that lightening had struck in front of the mess hall and started a fire and was quite alarmed. It took me a few minutes to realize that it was actually the fire pit. That night after dinner, there was a water balloon fight.

Some of the kids wanted to save their balloons and started calling them their babies and got pretty sad when their 'babies' got busted.

THURSDAY--We did iron-on t-shirts for the craft. I made them for my nephew Dallen, and my neices Victoria, Kyleigh, Marleigh, and my girls. They turned out very cute. But then again, what isn't cute on this bunch?!

We then spent another afternoon at..........you guessed it, White Lake. Here's most of the gang.

Another fun day of playing, playing, and more playing. Everyone was starting to get tired. It's hard work playing at the lake all day, everyday.

Just ask my little nephew, Charles Allen, who actually fell asleep on his float in the water.

Sarah got out of the water and watched everyone play for a while before she fell asleep.

My brother Dale, who looks like he's catching some pretty good Z's.

After dinner that night, we played volleyball until dark. And then, as is the tradition, the adults gather in the mess hall (after hopefully getting the kids to sleep) to hang out and play games until crazy hours of the night.

Camp Singletary, Part 2

For some reason, blogger would not let me finish it all in one post. Maybe it was too long, or had too many pictures. Anyway, here's the last two days at Camp Singletary.

FRIDAY--

A Visit with Grandma Barnett

Saturday afternoon we went to visit Grandma Barnett. It was great to see her and she was happy to see us, but we made it a short visit because the girls were pretty excited to be with their cousins Ericka and Julian and they were a little on the wild side. So glad we got to spend a little time with her though.

Carnival Fun

On Saturday, Grandma took us to a carnival put on by the primary in her ward. It was so cute and the girls had a great time.

Sarah picking a duck. She kept picking the pink ducks, even after my cousin told her to pick the yellow because it had the highest numbers.

My Uncle Joe built this little 'Skee Ball' game just for the carnival. It was so awesome and the kids loved it.

After playing several games and saving up their tickets, they were ready to go get some treats.

Sarah picked the cotton candy first.

But her favorite treat was, of course, the snow cone.

Katie got this delicious caramel apple. It was homemade and seriously the best caramel apple I have ever tasted. It was such a cute and fun activity.