So…I’m moving my blog! I stopped blogging for awhile and I’m really sorry to all my faithful readers. I have people begging me to start writing again so I’m gonna!! Can’t let my peeps down!! Anyway…I have several friends that have blogger and I did some checking and I like it WAY better than wordpress…so…that’s where I’m going. You can get to the new home of The Sandbox HERE. Hope you enjoy and continue to read!! Peace…see you on the flip side!!
In a nutshell….
So…I’m sitting her at work. By myself…everyone’s at lunch and if you know me at ALL, you KNOW I like to talk. ‘Like’ is a serious understatement but truly there is no word that describes the extent to which I like to talk. But you get the idea!! Anyway. So, instead of talking…I’m gonna type to the world!! hehe!! Mass communication…gotta love it right?
Had one awesome weekend. Hung out with the in-laws on Saturday…there is nothing better…it’s like coming home. I love my married family with my whole heart…they’re pretty much awesome!! Got to hang and play with the kiddos too. Sunday, Jeremy and I had his parents over for lunch after church. We usually go out to eat but in the effort to try and save money for Lyndi’s destination wedding to Florida we have to put the eating out on hold. I, however love that time with the family after church…talking about random, funny, serious, insignificant things. So, in the spirit of not sacrificing the time too, I made a big pot of beef stew and cornbread and we all ate hung out and watched the Cowboys game. Well, I sort of watched…kinda fell asleep in the middle of it. I’m telling you…get my tummy full and get me remotely comfortable and still and I’m out like a light!! But I saw all the good parts cause all the yelling woke me up…every single time!! :o) We Walker’s get into our Cowboys’ games. The rest of the day, after the girls woke up from their naps, was pretty uneventful…it was just a LAZY day. We ate dinner got our baths and hit the hay…and since it was the ‘last day’ with Abby and Emma before going to their dad’s, I snuggled them in my bed until they fell asleep. I LOVE that time and they do to. They always ask me…”Mommy, can we snuggle? Is tonight the ‘last night’?” They ask this because they know they only get to do it that one night…that way, we all look forward to it…it’s a treat…sometimes!! 🙂
So…that’s my weekend…in a nutshell!!
Therapy…
I recently discovered a great form of therapy for frustrated families with bored whiny emotional toddlers who can’t seem to stay out of trouble or keep their hands to themselves…and the parents who love them, but secretly wish they could bop them upside the head just once to knock some sense into them!! 🙂 Oh come on…you know you’ve thought it!!
So the secret remedy…PILLOW FIGHTS!! This amazing breakthrough was started by little Emma of course and one by one…Jeremy, Abby, Me, Maggie (we didn’t have Hannah but I’m sure she would have jumped right in given the chance) we grabbed a pillow and went to town!! It was the most fun…we all got some aggression out in a safe, healthy way. It kept us all entertained for about 1/2 an hour, lots of laughter during, and LOTS of hugs after!! It was SOOO much fun and I highly recommend it…VERY THERAPEUTIC!! 🙂
Ear piercings and school supplies…
So…Sunday was the big day for Abby to get her ears pierced…I’m already having a hard time with her starting Kindergarten in a couple of weeks and then her Dad springs it on me that he wants to get her ears pierced…I really think he’s trying to give me a coronary. I mean…isn’t that backwards…isn’t Mom the one who wants to get the girls ears pierced and Dad is the one digging in his heels with all he’s got? Well, I was the one digging but it really wasn’t that bad. I thought I was going to throw up while the girls at Claire’s were getting all the stuff ready…I could tell Abby was nervous but she really wanted to do it…She climbed up in the chair all by herself like a big girl. And…they did it…one girl on each side…simultaneous…quick…like a band-aid…and it was done. She freaked for about thirty seconds. Then I asked her if she wanted mommy to get hers done too so she wouldn’t be in pain by herself…of course she said yes…and since I already have two holes in each lobe, my only option was the cartilage. I’d always heard that it hurt really bad and hurt for a LONG time after but I didn’t even feel it when it happened…all I heard was the gun click…and it still doesn’t hurt!! Mommy lucked out! So, we got them done together…and now I can admit I overreacted a little about the whole thing but c’mon who’s just uber excited to do something that’s going to deliberately cause their child pain? 😉 Anyway…
Yesterday I bought THE SCHOOL SUPPLIES!! AGGHHHHHHH!! Actually…I’m really starting to get excited…excited to help her with her ‘reading’ and ‘writing’ assignments and REALLY looking forward to the first book she reads to ME!! That is going to be one AWESOME day!! So, I got the glue, the pencils, the crayons, the scissors, the construction paper, manilla paper, etc. and a little pink supply box to go with her pink Disney Princess backpack. She’s gonna be a diva…
Kindergarten…here we come!! 🙂
My baby…Who’s Now My BIG Girl…
Where her story begins…
I don’t remember life before I got pregnant with Abby. That’s when life really started for me. I was so ecstatic when I took that test…and it was positive!! WOW!! Pregnancy was pretty uneventful…I was sicker than a dog the first two months…I lost 7 pounds in like two weeks I think. I couldn’t keep anything down. But I didn’t care…I knew that every time I puked…it was because she was growing strong and healthy. And the heartburn…OH MY WORD THE HEARTBURN!! Other than that it was all just a piece of cake. UNTIL…I hit the 33 week mark…I went in for my regularly scheduled check-up and had mentioned to the good doc that I had been having cramp like pains and severe back pain the night before. He decided to go ahead and give me a full exam to check things out. Turns out I was dilated to a 4!! Not good with 7 weeks still to go. He told me to go immediately to labor and delivery and get checked in. So…I got up there…got checked in and placed in a triage bed. A nurse came over to hook me up to the monitor belts and decided to check me again. It had only been 45 minutes since I’d seen the doctor at this point. I was already dilated to 7-8…and was having absolutely no pain. 
I don’t know how but they managed to keep labor at bay and I stayed laid up in that hospital being poked and prodded and stuffed with medication for 2 weeks. It was horrible…and the only thing that kept me from going insane was feeling my Abby rolling around in my belly and kicking the crap out of me!! 🙂 She was so strong and I knew she’d be just fine. She was finally born on May 12, 2004 at 12:26 pm. She was beautiful and it was the most amazing experience in my life. She was five weeks early…was over 6 pounds and got a 9.9 apgar score from the Neo-natalogist who was in the room to tend to her after her birth. He wasn’t needed. She was perfect!!
Since that day she has been a constant joy in my life. She is hilarious…and emotional…and loving…and affectionate…and smart…and animated…full of passion and attitude…and love. She’s inquisitive and so eager to learn. She melts my heart with just one look and gets me so heated with one smart mouth comment!! 😉 There is no one who loves that child more!! I never even knew my heart could love and hurt so much at the same time. It’s hard to explain…But any mom out there knows what I’m talking about.
She used to say ‘toe-pt toe-pt’ when she was trying to say ‘ketchup’ and ‘muck’ when she was trying to say ‘milk.’ She would try to sing ‘twinkle-twinkle little star’ and it would come out ‘winka winka winka up’ and you NEVER asked her to tell you what a duck says or get her to say ‘blue shirt.’ 😉 Now she says words like ‘antagonizing’ and uses it correctly…she can write her alphabet and sound out words…she can do basic math problems…she amazes me…and she’s about to start kindergarten…KINDERGARTEN PEOPLE!! No one ever explained to me the joy and simultaneous heartache that I would feel watching her grow up. I wouldn’t trade any moment for anything in the world. Happiness and love…that’s what I see when I look at her and that’s what I feel every time I think about her. But I don’t want to think about her starting school. Don’t get me wrong…I am so excited for her but it was literally just yesterday that the doctor put her on my stomach and she was all slimy and gross and beautiful…wasn’t it?…wasn’t it?
She starts school in 16 days…I’m not ready…yes I am…no I’m not. Ugghhh…YES I AM!! She is going to do great and I have to remind myself that children are gifts from God and a temporary assignment. It is my job to train them up in the way they should go and when they are grown they will not stray from it. That’s what my Jesus tells me. It’s just so hard to let them go…and even little steps such as the first day of kindergarten is a small step in a long process of letting them go. She is smart…and beautiful…and outgoing…and already full of ambition at the young age of 5. She can be ANYTHING in this world she wants to be…she told me once on Wednesday and twice yesterday that she wants to be a doctor so she can take care of me when I’m sick.
I guess all doctors started out in kindergarten…
Good luck my beautiful baby girl Abby…Mommy loves you even more than these words can describe!
There is no limit to how your story will unfold!!
In awe…
So this morning I’m brushing my teeth. I do this last for some reason…maybe I’m wierd but that’s beside the point. Anyway…so I’m brushing my teeth standing in the hall watching GMA…hair and make-up done…wearing my bathrobe and I feel someone looking at me. I glance over and catch my handsome husband staring at me…but the look on his face is awe inspiring. I’m in awe because he’s looking at me like it’s the first time he’s ever seen me. I love it. I love the way he looks at me. Because…it wasn’t just this morning that he did that…he does it every time and it amazes me. It amazes me how much he loves me and how that love just bursts right through his eyes EVERY time he looks at me. I love him. Just thought I would share that.
Update!!
So…this weekend…Abby AND Emma both tried out swimming with just the water wings…under duress at first of course…Emma freaked at first but as she was making her way back to the steps she was calm enough to say, “I don’t want to do this again, pweese.” and then when Hannah swam in front of her, “Move Hannah.” Just as calm as she could be carrying on conversation. However since it wasn’t her idea…she didn’t want to do it anymore!! 🙂 Abby on the other hand…once she determined that Mommy actually was right and she did float (it took about four times totally freaked out) we couldn’t get her out of the pool! I’m very proud of both of them. Emma did admit it was fun and did admit that she didn’t go under the water but…like I said…still not her idea…next time we go I’m almost positive it will be her idea and she’ll be a little fish just like her sisters! I’m so proud of all of them!!
Summer Lovin’
Our family has had so much fun so far this summer. The kids absolutely love to swim and we have definitely been doing our fare share of it. Thanks to my AWESOME, AMAZING inlaws who NEVER tire of our Saturday (all day) visits…(hehe)…we have ample opportunity!! Believe me, with all the heat here lately we grasp at the opportunity with everything we’ve got!! Abby and Emma are still a bit shy when it comes to the water. They like to play it safe. This mommy isn’t complaining (too much). On one hand I know that if they’re scared they won’t just be jumping in with no one around. They barely let us carry them on our hips off of the steps!! On the other they’re too scared to engage in actually LEARNING how to swim so if they ever fell in, they’d stand no chance!! Swimming lessons are definitely an impending priority. As far as Maggie and Hannah…crazy little fish…seriously I don’t know where they get this whole ‘no fear’ attitude…but really…neither one of them fear much of anything!! Maggie is 2 and Hannah is 3 and both of them will swim from one end of the pool to the other with nothing but their little arm floaties and want nothing to do with any adult trying to ‘help’ them. Both of them will jump from the side and sometimes I decide to encourage the fearlessness by not exactly catching them before they go under water!! 😉 I know…I’m mean right. But that’s how they learn. It’s everyone’s natural instinct to hold their breath when they go under water. And they do an amazing job!! They will both pop back up out of the water with squinty eyes…with that scared little face taking tiny little gasps of air before realizing that they are okay…they can breathe…and that it was in fact kind of fun…and then they smile, giggle and laugh…and do it all over again. Maggie will even start clapping and saying ‘yeah’ once she gets her wits about her.
They are all so adorable and it’s these kind of moments…
whether it be Emma floating on her pool lounger,
Abby being perfectly content in her little fish ring float,
or Maggie and Hannah swimming and jumping in no holds barred until they’re exhausted…that makes a mommy realize how life never really started until she held her babies for the very first time. Everything after that is one amazing ride. I’m gonna sit back and enjoy it…before I know it…it’s gonna be over. Abby, Emma, Maggie, Hannah…Mommy (‘Lizes’) loves you so much.
It’s been FOREVER!! Sorry…
So…it’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted last and a lot has happened since our little family camping trip. Maggie has turned two!! Hannah and Maggie both have started swimming on their own with nothing but arm floaties which is way early for kids to do that!! (Maggie is 2 and Hannah is 3) We’re very proud of them. I will post pictures and write about Maggies birthday soon and Abby’s too while I’m at it…haven’t done hers either…it’s been a busy summer!!
So I took Abby to the doctor yesterday because she had been running a low grade fever for a few days and was complaining that her ears hurt. All the while her hearing is progressively getting worse. I am having to talk to her like she’s an elderly person!! I feel so sorry for her. Yesterday I walked into her room where she was playing with this Elmo ‘radio’ that plays his ‘greatest hits’ when you push the different buttons and my poor precious baby girl was holding the speaker up to her ear. And can I just say that this thing is LOUD…you can hear it throughout the house…one of those toys parents regret buying the second it’s out of the box…and yes…she was holding the speaker up to her ear. I asked her what she was doing…and she looked up at me with these sad puppy dog eyes and said, ‘ I can’t hear it mommy.’ My heart just broke for her. She starts school in exactly a month so we’re getting this problem taken care of on tuesday. The doctor said her ears are completely blocked with wax and suspects that she could have an outer ear infection but wasn’t sure because he couldn’t see anything. He gave her some antibiotic ear drops to use until Saturday and then wants to see her back on Tuesday in hopes that the tenderness is gone and they can be cleaned out with minimal pain. I’m already dreading it…I know it’s gonna hurt. The doctor actually used the word ‘dig.’ That sounds painful and I’m already hurting for her. So, please if you don’t mind, say a prayer or two for her. Not only that they can get the wax out with little pain but also that it will heal her hearing problem and it isn’t something more serious.
Thanks a bunch!! And I promise those blogs and pics I mentioned above will be up soon!!
camping trip…
I haven’t posted in a while…but nothing has really happened. Just the same old same old. I did want to tell you about the camping trip we took this weekend! It was so much fun. The girls had never been camping before, so we decided to do something with them that they hadn’t done before but at the same time something fairly inexpensive!! It was definitely an experience! We recently bought a tent that sleeps six…it’s really nice. My mom had given all the girls sleeping bags for Christmas this past year so we were pretty much all set. I bought a really good cast-iron skillet for cooking along with a grilling basket for hot-dogs. We bought marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers for smores. We packed a days worth of clothes all our bedding, an ice chest and headed to the State Park!!
It was so cool! We set up the tent and started a fire. Jeremy cooked hot-dogs over the fire and then we all roasted Marshmallows and had smores after dinner. It was so much fun!! However, when we got ready to roast the Marshmallows (which just so happens to be my #1 favorite thing to do on camping trips) I didn’t pack ANYTHING to roast them with…no coat hanger no nothin!! Dang-it!! We didn’t let that stop us though. We found a good sturdy stick…I burnt the tip well in the fire and stuck a marshmallow right on that sucker. I made sure to try the first one to make sure it tasted okay…it was delicious! And since I burnt the tip no bark or anything came off with it! We all had a blast! (by the way, the next morning, lo and behold there lay a coat hanger already in marshmallow roasting form laying on the ground next to the fire pit!) Maggie kept walking over to the chair where I was keeping the smore ingredients and kept sneaking the graham crackers and marshmallows!! I would look back just as she snagged one and took off running shoving a huge marshmallow into her mouth!! Her little cheeks looked like a chipmunk’s!! It was so darn cute. 
We cleaned them up, took them to the restroom for a before-bed-potty-trip and headed back to the tent! They kept giggling and antagonizing each other. Since they were so close they could reach out and touch each other, pull each others hair, poke each other in the eyes or like Emma, put their feet up on somebody until they started screaming!! 🙂 She’s such a little picker!! They finally fell asleep about an hour and a half later (11:30-12pm YIKES!!) It got kind of cold that night but they didn’t seem to mind!
We were all awake by 7 the next morning (all of us but Emma). While Emma was still snoozing in the tent the rest of us were up enjoying the morning. Jeremy had just started the fire and I was beginning to get breakfast ready to cook when I heard Emma from the tent. — now guys, if you don’t know how Emma talks let me try and explain it. She has a little voice but it’s pretty deep for a tiny little thing (if that makes any sense). I hear her say, ‘Hey Mommy!!’ I reply, ‘Yes baby…’ to which she responds, ‘I’m still in heu!! Get me out!!’ and then proceeds to bang on the mesh ‘window’ like she would on a real one in hopes that I might hear her and come running! It was hilarious. I guess you had to be there…
After breakfast we packed everything up (decided to only go for one night for our first trip, you know, get our feet wet) and went to one of the walking trails there in the park. The girls had fun…you can tell they definitely all have their own little personality types.
Our little Hannah is a princess through and through. We were only five feet from the van and she was already saying she was tired and wanted to be carried. She was hot and did not like the idea of hiking through the woods and getting dirty!! 🙂 Abby is a princess but still likes exploring and seeing what kind of mess she can make and Emma and Maggie are A LOT alike!! They are the little athletic ones that just want to go and get dirty and sweaty and see just where they’re little feet can take them!! Needless to say it was pretty hectic and we only made it about a third of the way down the trail before we decided to head back to the van. We decided to go to Jeremy’s parents house so we could let the girls eat and nap in air conditioning and when they woke up we all went swimming. The girls are getting more brave and comfortable with the water although I think Maggie and Hannah are a little too brave sometimes. We all had a blast and all in all it was a really good fun-filled weekend! 🙂
If your paycheck is stretched and you want to do something fun yet inexpensive together as a family…might I suggest taking a camping trip and get back to the basics…it draws families together! We’re certainly closer!!
— goodnight!
The Sandbox 