Made to Crave- A Journey in Obedience

John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

I was just about to start writing and this verse came to me. What a great opener! I think it would be even more fitting for me if it said, "In this LIFE you will have trouble..." because trouble is what I seem to have! Of course I'm talking about this crazy roller coaster ride I'm on of trying to be healthier. My sugar/processed food demons have gotten the best of me over the last 6 months and all the hard work I'd done has just been washed away. Like seriously, I'm up about 30 pounds in 6 months. What?! I know this is not what God has called me to in this life. I'm meant for more than to have my thoughts consumed by food and thoughts of "how am I going to fix this sugar craving?", etc. That's just not what this life is about. I've read Lysa TerKeurst's book "Made to Crave" like 3 times, but I never end up finishing it. Why? Because if I finish it, I might feel convicted and actually need to implement it and make changes! BUT!! I'm so tired of the back and forth. On the wagon and then back off the wagon. Smaller clothes and then back into the bigger clothes. Enough already! This time I am finishing the book and I'm going to listen to what she has to say. Because she is totally speaking the words I need to hear. 
I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to implement the book. I know that I am an "all or nothing" person when it comes to sugar/processed foods. I really can't have them in moderation. Because once I open the door to a little bit, it's all I can think about and I can't seem to enjoy them responsibly. So for now, that stuff is off the table. It's so freeing for me to say no. It helps me not go back and forth in my mind of will I/won't I? Other than that, I plan on doing meat, veggies, fruits and good carbs (starchy veggies, fruit, maybe some rice/healthy grains every once in awhile). 
I REFUSE to be ruled by food anymore! If I'm feeling so inspired, I'll try to post updates here about what this journey ends up looking like. I tend to keep things to myself out of fear of what others will think of me. But maybe if I'm honest it'll inspire someone else to make changes they've been looking to make. We can do this, friends! Well, actually, we can't. BUT God, in us, CAN!!

Audrey Grace

Tuesday afternoon my sister and her husband welcomed their first baby into the world! I still remember when they came over to our house at the beginning of January to tell us they were expecting and now she's here! Having my sister be pregnant and having a baby feels like I get to enjoy the perks of a baby without all the work! :) Julie went to the hospital over the weekend before Audrey came because her blood pressure was high. On Monday when she went for her doctor's appointment her fluid level was getting a little low so that in combination with her blood pressure made the doctor HIGHLY recommend her getting induced. That made Tuesday a really fun day for me! It was our first MOPS meeting that morning and then after Ryan got home from work and Karys got out of school we headed to Dallas to meet our new niece/cousin. We got to the hospital about an hour after Audrey was born. When we got into the room my parents were there as well as Michel's parents. Audrey is Michel's parents' first grandchild and the first girl for their family. I only got to hold her for a couple of minutes that evening because she had to be taken to the nursery for all that newborn testing, etc. It was okay though, because we knew we'd come back for the weekend. We ended up leaving the hospital about 8:50 and headed back home so that Ryan could go to work the next day and Karys could go to school! It was about 11:00 when we got home...thankfully everyone woke up in good moods the next day!

Me and Audrey in the hospital

The cousins in the hospital

Friday after Ryan got home from work and Karys got out of school we headed back to Dallas for the weekend. I had asked my sister if it would be okay for me to come to their house for the evening by myself. I really wanted some quality Audrey time by myself. I told her that if she and Michel wanted to go out to dinner or something I could stay at their house with Audrey. Later that day she asked me if (instead of me doing that for them) I'd be willing to stay at their house overnight to help with Audrey so she and Michel could get some sleep. After getting the okay from Ryan I told her I'd definitely be okay with that! They were just so sleep-deprived after being at the hospital 3 nights and then having their first night at home with a newborn who didn't want to be put down! I know all about that after having Zane who refused to sleep if I wasn't holding him for his first few nights at home. So Friday night Audrey and I settled in on the couch for the night. She did so well! My sister got up at 1 and fed her and then I gave her a bottle at 4 and Julie got up and fed her again at 7. But in between those feedings she just slept on my arm like a champ!

The girl cousins :)

Zane giving Audrey a kiss :)

On Saturday my parents, Ryan, and the kids came over to their house. We had lunch together and then Ryan, Dad, Michel, and the kids went swimming at the pool in their neighborhood. I had asked Julie beforehand if their pool was still open because I knew that Karys and Zane would get bored being at their house without much to do. Plus I didn't want them to spend their whole time at my sister's house getting in trouble for things they really didn't understand. Especially Zane with things like being gentle, being quiet, etc. Then after getting the okay from Ryan again, I offered to stay at their house again Saturday night and help out. Julie and Michel said if I was offering they wouldn't say no! :) For that night I decided to sleep in their queen sized guest bed to give me a little more room to sleep. It also gave me the chance to try some things out with Audrey. We started out with her sleeping on my arm like we'd done on the couch. Then sometime in the night she started getting a little wiggly so I tried taking my arm out from under her and letting her lay on the bed beside me and she totally did it! My sister went to bed around 9:20 but unfortunately Audrey got hungry soon after so my sister had to spend from 9:45-10:15 feeding her. Afterward Julie was emotionally and physically exhausted so I took over and told Julie that Audrey would be fine and for her to go to sleep. Unfortunately, Audrey was extra hungry at that time and when I tried to go to bed with her she was not having it! So in order to help my sister get a little extra rest I made the executive decision to give her a bottle. Once she got about an additional ounce in her she was good to go and fell right to sleep. My sister said she didn't want her to go longer than 4 hours without eating so I set a timer on my phone. Around 2:00 she started stirring so I decided to go ahead and give her a bottle before she got too upset and hungry. I left her on the bed while I went and made the bottle and got the TV on. :) We got back to bed at 2:40 or so and I set another timer so I could take her to my sister when it was time. Around 5:00 I woke up to her stirring around again and then she pooped! I knew I couldn't leave her like that for an hour but I was really hoping she'd make it until 6:00 (for a feeding) for my sister's sake. I decided to get up and change her and hope for the best. I changed her and she didn't even wake up!! So back to the bed we went. A couple of minutes before my timer went off my sister came into the room and said she was going to take her to feed her. I showed Julie how Audrey was just laying on the bed beside me without being held which excited us both! So Julie took her out and I went back to sleep until 9:15. :)

I was really glad to be able to spend this time with my sister and enjoy some bonding time with my niece. It's funny how when you don't have a newborn anymore you really treasure the time you get to spend with one more than you do when you have one! Mostly because when you don't have one you're not as sleep-deprived! :)

Me and Audrey :)

It's Possible...

First, some backstory. Every year at VBS, the fourth day of VBS presents salvation to the kids. They learn about how Jesus dies on the cross for our sins and that those who believe that and choose to ask him to be in charge of their lives are saved and go to heaven. This year our children's director asked that the leaders that felt comfortable helping a child pray to receive Christ come up to the front of the sanctuary during our finale when the kids are given the chance to accept Jesus into their hearts. I felt like I could handle that so I went up with about half of the leaders and sat down on the steps at the front of the sanctuary. As soon as the kids were told that they could come talk to a leader if they wanted to ask questions or talk about asking Jesus into their hearts, Karys came up and sat with me. I assumed she was just wanting to sit with me. But I asked her if she knew why kids were coming up and explained that they were wanting to ask Jesus into their hearts. I talked a little bit about it with her and then asked her if that was something she wanted to do. She said yes and so I helped her come up with the words for her prayer. I told Ryan about it later that evening but we didn't tell anyone else about it because we didn't know if she really had an understanding of what salvation was or anything. To be honest, we just weren't sure if she had really accepted Jesus or not.

Tonight (about 3 months after VBS) as I was drying her hair, we were singing the song "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart" and she tells me that Jesus is in my heart and her heart. I asked her how she knew he was in her heart. She proceeds to tell me, "It was a long time ago at Kingdom Rock, I came up to the front and sat on the steps with you. I asked Jesus to come into my heart and He shined in front of me and came into my heart." I honestly do not know what to make of this! I had no idea she remembered that event because we haven't talked about it (since I wasn't sure that she really understood what it meant to ask Jesus into your heart and why someone would want to do it). I told Ryan tonight that maybe she had more of an understanding than either of us thought. I'm at least happy that she seems to understand what it means to be saved. :)

First Week of Kindergarten!

Karys is a kindergartener! It feels so weird to even say that or think it! School started on Tuesday this past week and so far it seems to be good. Especially for someone that has no "real" classroom experience. The first day of school we walked her in to her class. Ryan even went into work late so he could be apart of the fun. There were no tears from anyone! We had met her teacher the Thursday before and she is so sweet and gentle. I think she'll be the perfect fit for Karys. When we got to her class, her teacher, Mrs. Smith helped Karys unpack her backpack and showed her where to put her lunch and how to hang up her backpack. :) We told her goodbye and then Zane and I headed to the park to play with some friends because I didn't know how he would handle his partner in crime being gone all day! Thankfully the weather Tuesday morning was pretty mild and we ended up staying at the park 2 1/2 hours!! Just in time to go home, eat lunch, take a nap, and then go get Karys. When she got home from school we tried to ask her about her day and what she had done and it took awhile for her to remember what she had done. But we learned that she knew the name of one kid in the class and that she'd gotten to go to Music and they packed their school boxes with crayons, a pencil, a glue stick, and scissors. :)

The only thing I learned that she didn't like is P.E. They went on Wednesday and Thursday and she told me Wednesday that she didn't like it because all of the kids were running around and they might run into her. Karys can be a a crazy kid, but only in circumstances where there are not a lot of people around. Once it gets crowded she is fearful that bigger kids are going to push her or knock her down, whether it's on purpose or not. She said that the teacher told her to run and she told the teacher she didn't want to. :) I asked her what the teacher said and she told her to run and that she'd be okay. I asked Karys what she did after that and she said she ran. So I'm glad that she obeys even if she doesn't want to. I told her that she could choose to have fun, or she could choose to not have fun, but she couldn't choose not to do it. It was suggested to me to email her P.E. teacher just to tell her what was going on so I did that this afternoon and not soon after, she called me! She told me she read my email and thought, "I need to call her." She told me Karys wasn't the only one crying and that it just takes them awhile to get used to the kids being able to run around and be loud. A lot of the kids (Karys included) don't like when other kids are loud. She said they don't mind being loud themselves, but they don't want everyone else to be loud! :) I couldn't believe she called me on a Sunday, on a holiday weekend, when I wasn't even requesting a call! I'm thankful for where we are for school. :)

Oh, and if you missed the cute story on FB: those shoes Karys is wearing we bought special for school. They light up and every day when she puts on her shoes for school Zane wants his tennis shoes so he can be like Karys. I decided to go buy him some light up shoes the other day and as soon as he got them on he said, "Okay, I ready for school!" He really wants to be just like his big sister! :)

Obligatory first day pics :)

Taking a picture in front of the school with Zane

At the door to her class

With her sweet teacher :)



Karys's 5th Birthday

I cannot believe that I have been a mom for a whole 5 years now! Karys is such a fun girl and she almost always has a bright smile on her face. This year she's even getting ready for kindergarten!

We had planned originally to do her birthday party at the splash pad here in town but after we did Zane's half-birthday party at our house she decided she wanted to her party here at the house too. It actually works really well for us too because it means we don't have to pack anything up and take it anywhere else!

She has decided lately that Daisy Duck is her favorite and she wanted a Daisy Duck birthday party. Well in case you haven't noticed, Daisy Duck is not really a main character in Mickey Mouse so it's hard to find her by herself. However, she and Minnie Mouse have teamed up for Minnie Mouse Bow-Tique so you can at least find them together! We were able to find plates at Walmart (yeah, for no expensive party supply store!) and then I just made the party theme with lots of purple since Daisy wears purple.

I also thought that since she was 5 it would be fun to play a game at the party since she and most of her friends are older so they could follow rules and everything. After a short online search I decided it would be fun to do a "Prize Walk." Basically it's like a Cake Walk but instead of winning a cake you win prizes. I was on the ball for this party (I kind of ended up throwing Zane's party together last minute) so a few weeks before the party the kids and I scoured the Dollar Tree for appropriate girl and boy prizes. We tried to get Minnie/Daisy and Mickey prizes wherever possible...and there were a lot! On the party day I drew a big circle on the carport with purple sidewalk chalk and made numbered spaces. However, I was not thinking about the fact that the kids would've been playing in the water before this and all of my chalk was going to disappear! Oh well, we winged it a bit and they had a good time. :)

I was going to create a birthday banner, but I ended up just taping each individual piece to the wall. :)

Friends eating together. We got this kids picnic table after Zane's party had already happened...it sure is perfect for friends to sit at together!

Cupcakes. Fitting with our Daisy Duck "purple" theme.

Opening presents. These sweet friends sat there and watched her open every single one. The other kids fizzled out quickly. :) Karys had told Zane she wanted him to be her present helper. He was probably one of the first to leave to get back in the pool! :)

Happy birthday, Karys! You're a whole hand now! Thanks, friends, for enduring two parties so close together for us! :)

Zane's 2 1/2 Birthday Party

Poor Zane. He was born a mere three days after Christmas which means that his birthday and Christmas are practically the same thing. This year for his two year old party I was planning to do it on New Year's Eve since I figured most of our friends that travel out of town would be back. I wanted an outdoor party because our house just doesn't accomodate many and plus the kids had gotten some really great outdoor stuff for Christmas. Then it decided to rain. I kept thinking I would reschedule it and then I just kept forgetting! I told Ryan that I guess we just wouldn't do a party for him this year and then he suggested that we start the 1/2 birthday party. So on his actual birthday we will do a family party and then he can have a party with his friends for his half birthday.

He wanted a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" theme. Of course the only place I could find plates, etc. with Jake on them would have to be the most expensive party store in town!! ($4 for 8 plates is ridiculous!!) But oh well. Since it's summertime we had just gotten a really big blow up pool so we had that set up, plus the kids could just play in the yard.

He had a fun time and Karys enjoyed being his "present helper." (This is the person that brings you your presents to open at your party. :)

Here's Zane next to his cake. I went to Walmart for this cake and they did have a Jake design but didn't have the plastic pieces that were supposed to go with it. I found the figurines in the toy section at Walmart so I bought those and they made the cake to go with it. Very cute, I thought! :)

A post-cake picture. :)

 

Anticipating opening presents.

 

Karys acting as "present helper." :)

When you're 2 1/2 you no longer need help getting presents open! :) And this picture is hilarious because he was given the bat/ball as a present and someone tried to take it and hold it so this is how he decided to keep it safe. :)

Thank you, friends, for coming out and helping Zane have a fun half-birthday! :)

"Normal"

Those of you that have known our family for awhile probably remember that when Karys was Zane's age she was in speech therapy because she had some pretty bad speech delays. So Zane is my first experience with "normal" toddler developments. Today we ate lunch at Chick Fil A and we were in the play area. Another little boy came in and he and Karys were talking to each other (they found out they were both 4 :). The boy had to get his shoes and go back out to his mom. He pulled out Spiderman flip flops from one of the cubbies. Zane saw these shoes (he also has Spiderman flip flops) and proceeded to get very excited telling this little boy that he had Spiderman flip flops too. He was saying things like, "Look! I have 'piderman lee-lah (flip flops) too!" :) It's fun to see how he can put words together into sentences. The other day someone in his class at church bit him on the leg. His teacher told me he said (when it happened): "He bite me!" The story actually makes me smile because I think it's cute that he knew the terminology to say what had been done to him. This kiddo makes me smile!

I Am Officially Crazy! :)

Karys hadn't had a haircut since October. When she got that haircut I had taken both kids to Super Cuts for professional cuts because we were getting ready to go to a wedding and I wanted to make sure their hair looked good. When I watched the girl cut her hair I realized that I was doing the right thing when I do it at home. Especially with a simple cut like hers. You just cut straight across, basically. In the last couple of weeks I've noticed her hair was looking a little long and like it needed to be cut. Yesterday she made the comment that her hair was too long and she needed a haircut. Since I've been waiting on the "okay" from her I didn't waste any time! (I should also throw in that she got syrup in her hair yesterday while eating pancakes so I figured we could just cut out the syrup--it was just on the end of one small section of hair. But see what I mean...that's crazy!!) We had about 40 minutes last night before we had to go babysit at the church so I figured that would be plenty of time. Then I got this idea to cut it really short, like my niece, Jillian.

I made the first cut and thought to myself, "what have I just done?!" All of a sudden I doubted my ability to make this haircut look any good! But since I'd already started, I had to keep going! I did my best to get it cut evenly last night. It usually takes me a couple of days to really look over their hair once I cut it and see where it might need some touch ups. As I was watching her run around last night I could tell that one side was slightly longer than the other. I kept looking at it today and still thought that same thing. So I grabbed the scissors one more time and evened it out. I even tried my hand at a little bit of stacking in the back. I've had enough haircuts of my own (and I used to have really short hair) so I always think I know what I'm doing...even if I don't! Anyway, she got lots of compliments today on her new shorter haircut and now that I evened it out tonight I feel pretty confident in how she looks! We call it her Jillian Haircut. :) She told me tonight while looking in the mirror that she loved her new haircut.

Here are the results!

Our Facebook/TV Fasting Week

The following is about our media fast/my semi-food fast (meaning, eating the same thing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week).

Day 1

If I was going to be on facebook, I would’ve posted that I told Zane to go clean up the trains in his room. When he told me he was all done, I went to check it, thinking he would’ve done either nothing or picked up one or two of the tracks. But he had really cleaned all of it up all by himself! I was proud. J

The kids seemed to handle no TV well today. It helps that it’s Sunday so a lot of the day is taken up with church. That’s probably a good way to ease into it.

I think I’m liking taking the choice out of my meals. My mind wanders to things I might think I want to eat, but I know I can’t do that so those thoughts disappear quickly. And it totally helped me get ready and leave the house for church on time this morning. I already knew what I was giving the kids for breakfast, so it was sitting out waiting for them when they got up, rather than me asking them what they wanted and then having to make it.

I think Day 1 is a success!

Day 2

Today’s facebook post would’ve gone something like this: “If you think that you aren’t looking too bad, take an aerobics class in a room full of mirrors with an instructor who is probably a size 0. Then you will be slapped back in to reality!”

 I joined a gym last week. And I’m trying out fitness classes (because that’s my favorite way to work out). Today was the first one. J

I’m finding the food aspect of this week to be the most difficult. When I planned it, I thought that I had picked healthy things that I enjoyed eating. But I’m getting bored already. I added in dry Cheerios as a snack yesterday because I was so hungry after going for a 50 minute walk and then doing a 45 minute step-aerobics class. It seemed justified. Ryan said I was cheating.

Day 3

The kids are doing very well with no TV. They really aren’t asking about it too much. And if they do ask about it and I say we’re not watching it, they go to something else.

The biggest thing I’m seeing so far is that Zane is actually eating stuff that I make for him! I made the kids a peanut butter sandwich the other day on these sandwich thins that I bought. Usually Zane won’t eat a peanut butter sandwich (or at least not much of it) and when it was on one of those thins, he ate the entire thing! Then today Karys finished all of her lunch and got to have some chocolate chips for dessert. Zane decided he wanted some too, but he still had two apple slices and a cracker left to eat. I told him he had to eat the rest of his food if he wanted some and he got back up in his chair and ate all that was left! No fussing, no fit-throwing, nothing!

Tonight after the kids took a bath I was drying Zane off and he started squirming and saying something about “potty, potty.” I told him we weren’t going to play on the potty, but he was still squirming so I asked him if he needed to go potty and he said yes. So he sat down, said something about “yucky” and stood up a few seconds later and he had peed in the potty!!

A storm blew in tonight and knocked out the electricity on our street. So I couldn’t make my usual grilled chicken for dinner. But I had made turkey burgers for everyone else, so I had one of those.

Day 4

The hardest part of this for me is the food. It’s not that hard not to watch TV. But eating the same thing every day is getting old. But I have to remind myself that when things get uncomfortable or not as fun, that’s when I’m breaking to the point that God can work in me.

Translation: Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!

(Full disclosure: the kids did watch one episode of “Go, Diego, Go!” tonight. We were babysitting at a friend’s house tonight and I needed something quiet for them to do when the other kids went to bed.)

Day 5

Not a good day. I was feeling very depressed today. Yesterday during the BSF lecture, the teaching leader said that our clinging sin is what we turn to instead of to God when things get tough (this was in context to Abraham having Sarah say she was his sister for the second time). I know what my clinging sin is. I could’ve told you before this week what it was too. My clinging sin is food. When life is hard, food makes it better (or at least it feels like it does). So when I was feeling so bad all I could think of was what I could eat that would make it better. So while Ryan was here during the kids’ naptime, I left (with his permission!). I went to a hamburger restaurant with a book and ate a hamburger, french fries, a Coke, and slice of chocolate cake. I read, I ate, I had some alone time to regroup. I felt a little guilty for using food to make myself feel better, but the time alone gave me some clarity. And here’s what happened:

Last night I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t feel sick from my lunch, but I was definitely full. And there was a difference in how I reacted for the rest of the day. I didn’t think about how I’d already blown it so I might as well just forget it. I decided that since I wasn’t hungry, I just wouldn’t eat much for dinner. I had a salad, an apple, and a glass of milk. It’s definitely progress.

Day 6

Blah. Rice is so BORING!!! I had no idea how tired I would get of it!

Day 7

I opted to stop doing the food today. Mainly I was tired of it and I ran out of rice! J And at the end of the night, after the kids went to bed, Ryan and I watched about an hour of TV. I guess the fast is officially over!

I Am Out of Control!!

There. I admitted it. The ugly truth. I am totally out of control. In many different ways: I eat too much, and the wrong things; I watch too much television; I'm on the computer and facebook way too much. And I neglect the good things I should be doing. The Bible study lesson I need to do for BSF that is on Wednesday mornings? Usually done on Tuesday. Sometimes at night (like 10:00!). Karys asks me to play with her. I am usually on the computer so I tell her not right now. I don't feel like being productive in any way so I have the kids watch some television. See what I mean? Out of CONTROL!!

But God is working on that with me. I said that my New Years resolution was no junk food for half the year. Starting this month. I made it probably 5 days. Cue Jen Hatmaker's book, "7." I had asked a couple of friends a couple of months ago that I know like to read if they wanted to start a book club and read through a book together. I had forgotten about it and one of them brought it back up. Then she told us of another girl that had asked her to read this book with her so we added her to our "club." Then this girl knew of another girl that wanted to read this book. So we have this really cool club now. ;)

This book is AMAZING. I don't think it's something you can read and not be changed. The main idea of the book is that she has chosen 7 areas of life that she thinks she and her family are doing in excess and cuts them way back for one month each. The seven areas are: clothing, food, media, possessions, waste, stress, and spending. If you've never read a Jen Hatmaker book, she writes in a way that you feel like she's talking to you. And she's funny. So the whole book is written like a diary/blog (day 1, day 2, etc.). In the first month she did food. And for a whole month she had 7 foods that she could eat: chicken, spinach, eggs, sweet potatoes, avocado, apples...and I can't remember the 7th. But she's honest about it. Mid-month she tells the chicken that she hates it for being dry. :)

So of course since my food intake is so out of control the food chapter was great for me. It made me think that I wanted to do this, but I was afraid I would do it for the wrong reason (to lose weight). I brought this up last night at our first "book club" and one of the girls said maybe there wasn't anything wrong with that. Trying to be healthier isn't a bad goal. And if I take some of the choice out of my food I have more time to hear what God is telling me. And if I start this just to lose weight, at least I've started, and then God can use it and change my thoughts and reasons.

Then I decided that just being more strict on my food wasn't my only big battle. Media is a huge one. I usually spend all of naptime watching TV (so that's like 3 hours) and then after the kids go to bed we're usually watching TV for another 2-3 hours. So I've got 6 hours a day that I can watch TV, but I have no time to get my Bible study done?? Something is very wrong with this picture!! And that doesn't even count the amount of time on facebook...probably another 2 hours. So I'm doing a full time job just in media?! Just typing that out is crazy.

So I'm going for a combination...which I know might sound like I'm taking on too much, but I think I can do it. For one week (starting Sunday) we are going to go without any TV. I don't know exactly what Ryan wants to do, but I know he agreed to no TV. I'm going to also be abstaining from facebook and most of the internet in general. I'm going to have to get on it a little bit to log my food on myfitnesspal, and check for emails that need responses, but for the most part the internet is off-limits.

I told Karys today that in a few days we were going to turn the TV off and not turn it back on for a few days. She didn't believe me. :) But I tried to work with her to make a list of fun things we could do: play outside, play with Play Doh, do crafts, play games, etc. etc. I think the first couple of days of this will be kind of hard. But that's okay. It's kind of like a fast...and it's supposed to be a little challenging. Because when things are hard we can ask God to strengthen us in our weakness. After one week with zero TV, I plan to phase it back in gradually. The first part of the plan is to watch in the evenings. After we do that for a week, I guess we'll see where to go next. If it seems like a good plan, we might keep it up! :)

So it all starts Sunday! I'm not doing my food like Jen did, but each of the girls in our book club decided to do it in a way they thought would work for them. I'm made out a menu and I'm going to follow it every day until our book club meets again. Here it is:

Breakfast: eggs, potatoes, 1/2 banana (which will be difficult because I don't really like bananas, but I know I need to branch out!!), 1 glass grape juice
Lunch: salad with peas, brown rice, apple or applesauce
Dinner: grilled chicken breast, broccoli, green beans
Snacks: carrots or oranges
Drinks: milk or water

I'm excited to see what all the Lord will teach me once I give up the things that are keeping me from knowing Him more. No media to get in the way and no constant snacking/desire for sweets to lead me astray! I will update again in a week from Sunday when we've seen what happens when you turn off the TV and get creative with your time! :)

Happy New Year!!

(I tried to upload a cute picture of the kids but it doesn't want to let me!)

This year I decided to make a resolution that was more than just "eat less, exercise more." I was talking to my sister before New Years and she said that she was going to spend January eating no junk food. Since I have gained about 10 pounds in the last few months (for those keeping up: that makes me 20-25 lbs. above my "normal" weight, which is another 15-20 lbs. above my "ideal" weight. Blah.), I told her I'd commit to do that with her. So I pigged out for the last few days before starting. I started on January 2 (she started on the 1st, but I said that was still a holiday!) and have been doing pretty darn good if I do say so myself (of course it's only been 3 days!).

I decided to take it one step further in my resolution. I'm commiting to going half the year without eating junk food (to me, junk food means: deep fried stuff, candy, cookies, ice cream, chips, etc.). But I knew that 6 months without ANYTHING just wasn't going to happen! So I'm doing one month on, one off. I just have to make sure that in my month on, I don't totally pig out and undo everything I did in my month off! Hopefully this will be drastic enough to help me make some big changes. It's sad that my "baby" just turned two and I'm not even close to my pre-pregnancy weight. I want that to change this year!! :)

We love December!

Um, so...oops. I'm not very good at updating blog posts. Our December has been busy, as it usually is, but that's the fun of the Christmas season! Lots going on, but it's all fun!

In the middle of December, our church had its annual Christmas Program. The Kids Dept. leads the program and the preschoolers are the first ones to perform. Last year, Karys was much more reserved than she is this year. The day of the rehearsal for the program, when they learn how to come in to the sanctuary from the foyer and stand on the risers she cried and wouldn't do it, until one of her teachers stood by her. And on program night, she stood there like she was supposed to (and didn't cry), but she didn't sing. This year, on rehearsal day, she walked in with everyone just like she was supposed to and said her verse and sang just like she was supposed to! I was so proud of her! The fours and fives said a verse and sang a song. It was very impressive that they memorized such a long verse: Matthew 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." I know that she knows how to memorize verses because of Cubbies, but this was probably the longest one she's ever done! All the kids did so great! This is a video of her song, and then a picture of both kids in their Christmas outfits my friend, Alison, made. (Never mind, my video won't post. I'll try to get it to post to facebook. :)

A few days before Christmas we had a few of Karys's friends over for a mini-Christmas party. She had picked out a little gift for four of her friends so I wanted to get them to come over so she could give out her gifts. Everyone ended up bringing gifts, so the kids had fun exchanging them amongst each other.

Some of the unwrapping fun!

And what's a party without some goodies?! I made some Rice Krispie treats for everyone. :)

And today is the most fun day of all: Christmas! As I type this, it's actually SNOWING!! What?! Snowing, in Texas, on Christmas! Almost unheard of! :) Of course, this morning it was pouring down rain. And to go along with that, we got the kids lots of outdoor toys this year. So they couldn't play with them. Ironic, huh? We got them a really big Little Tikes playhouse with a slide (thank you, Craigslist!), and my parents got them a swingset. The swingset isn't set up yet, but the playhouse is. Poor Karys keeps asking if she can go outside and play in her playhouse. When I tell her it's too wet, she tells me that the roof will keep them dry. :)

Here's the kids digging into their stockings this morning

Both kids got flashlights in their stockings. Our kids are kind of obsessed with flashlights. :)

I asked my friend, Alison, to make Karys a pair of Hello Kitty pants (she's a little HK obsessed!) and she came up with the idea to also do a shirt (I kept Alison busy this Christmas season!). When Karys pulled the shirt out of the box, she said, "This is the best Hello Kitty shirt I've ever seen!" :) Here she is opening it and later wearing the outfit.

 

I LOVE the Christmas season! Without a doubt, this is my favorite time of the year. Jesus came to earth as a baby to save sinners. What a gift. Merry Christmas!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Last night, Karys was doing some crazy things at the dinner table and Ryan asked her if she had a brain like his. I wasn't sure if she even knew what a brain was/where it is, so I asked her. She didn't know. We explained that your brain is where your thoughts come from and that it's in your head.

She then starts shaking her head and says, "It's not shaking."

Me: "What's not shaking?"

Karys: "My brain."

That girl! :)

Guess Who's 20 Months?!

(20 months is, by the way, is the same age as Karys when we found out Zane was coming. I've been getting the itch for another baby the last couple of days...maybe that's why!)

I've been thinking I needed to write down all of the stuff Zane is doing lately so I might as well do it on here! 20 months is the age Karys was when I really started to notice that she was behind in her speech development. At that point I made a list of all of the words that she had and how she said them so that I could show it to the doctor and, eventually, the ECI therapists.

Right now I'm really thankful to have a child that is doing things right on track. Having had one that we worried so much about for so many different things (speech, not gaining much weight at a time, teeth coming in in a crazy order, etc.), it's just a nice relief to not have any concerns. He's doing EVERYTHING pretty much according to schedule. I will say, though, that he probably doesn't have as much going for him academically as Karys did at his age. And there's one reason for it: he's the second kid. It's not that I don't want to teach him stuff. It's that when Karys was his age, she was the only one. And for me, as the mom, there was nothing else to do except read her books and teach her stuff. With Zane, he has Karys. He has a kid playmate, so he doesn't need a grown-up playmate. So within recent months I started realizing he didn't know quite as much as she did at his age. I've been working on it a little more, so we're coming along. :)

I'm going to try to list off all of the words I think he has right now (I'll probably miss a few!):
*bye-bye
*Mommy
*Daddy ("da-da")
*Hi
*Hat ("ha")
*Bird ("bir")
*Hot ("hah")
*Ball ("bah")
*Drink ("dee")
*Here you go ("go!", said while handing you something)
*Thank you (doesn't come out that way, but I can't think of how he says it!)
*Please (something like, "peese")
*Duck ("duh")
*Dog ("dah")
*Cat ("caaa")
*No
*Yes ("yesh"...I love this one!)
*Uh-oh
*Bug ("buh")
*Gotcha! (will point a water gun at you and say something like, "ga-ta!")
*Granddaddy ("da da da")
*Nana

-We listen to Pandora radio a lot and the song "Mahna Mahna" from the Muppets comes on often and that's our favorite song. Zane says, "Mna Mna." :)
-When we hear a song that's from "Mary Poppins" he gets really excited and tries to say "Mary." :)

Body Parts he can identify:
*eyes
*head
*nose
*ears
*hands
*feet
*tongue
*mouth
*belly button

Animal sounds he knows:
*cat ("mah mah")
*dog ("ruh ruh")
*duck ("aah aah")
*monkey ("ah ah ah")
*lion ("raaah!")
(This is where I know he's behind Karys...she knew tons of animal sounds by this age!)

Gross Motor skills:
*climbs onto anything!
*starting to jump with both feet off the ground! Doesn't happen every time, but he's getting there!
*runs and walks without really falling much anymore
*can kick and throw a ball

I know I'm probably missing a lot, but hopefully I got most of it! :)

My Big Girl is 4!!

On Monday, we celebrated Karys's 4th birthday. I cannot even believe that as I type it! She has changed so much in the last year and I am amazed every day at the funny/crazy/wacky things she says/does. When she turned three last year she graduated out of the Speech Therapy she was getting through ECI (Early Childhood Intervention). She was evaluated by the school district to see if she qualified for speech services in the public school, but she was able to produce too many of the sounds on their list to qualify. Even though she graduated out she still had several issues in her speech. As the year progressed she started fixing more and more of those sounds. Now I think the only thing she can't always do is produce an "L" sound (very normal for her age) and her "R" is usually a "W" (also normal). I'm very proud of her!

For her birthday this year we didn't do a big party. There were several reasons. One is that it's costly and the main reason is that I just didn't get anything put together on time! Plus, I'm not really good at party planning. At least not like my other friends do! All of that stuff stresses me out and I don't feel like I do that great of a job at it, so I'll just leave all the cool parties up to them and we'll just attend all of their cool parties! :) But I did want to make sure she got to see her friends for her birthday. We invited several friends to come eat with us at Chick-Fil-A and I brought a cookie cake her us to celebrate with.

The birthday girl!

Getting ready to blow out her candles

Our crew at Chick-Fil-A. (Thanks, friends, for coming to celebrate!)

A mouth of purple icing :)

Zane enjoyed the purple icing too!

For her birthday dinner, we had our family come over and celebrate with us. This included my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and Ryan's sister and brother-in-law and their 4 kids. I had asked Karys what she wanted to eat for her birthday dinner a few days before and she told me, "Macaroni and cheese and apples." Since that's what she wanted, that's what we had! Well, that plus I made a second pasta dish and had a salad. She'd been telling me she wanted a Wonder Pets party, but I couldn't find the stuff for that so I picked out some fun princess stuff at Walmart that I thought she'd like. Thankfully she did! :) I made cupcakes for us to have that evening.

Getting ready to blow out candles

Zane was making a goofy face I thought was funny :)

Zane liked the cupcakes!

Karys decided to wear her princess dress to open presents

Opening presents in the princess dress

My mom found Karys a "Mary Poppins" shirt! As soon as Karys saw it, she said, "That's Mary Poppins!"

After opening presents, I told her to go around and give everyone a hug and tell them, "Thank you." I thought this picture of her and Connor was cute. :)

A cute picture of Karys and Granddaddy

I told her to give me her best 4 year old smile. :)

Zane's trying on Karys's new dress up shoes, much to Ryan's dismay. :)

Happy birthday, Karys! You're a sweet girl and I love you more and more each day! :)

The Story of the Sienna

This is a story about a Sienna. A story about a girl and her gold Sienna...

That was supposed to make you reminisce about the VeggieTales song, "The Song of the Cebu." :)

I can't remember when it was that I decided I would really like to have a minivan. I'm thinking it was probably around the time I got pregnant for the second time. I started thinking about how with 2 kids in the back seat, there would be no room for anyone else! Plus, the new body styles of minivans are less "soccer mom" and more like a big crossover SUV. So having a minivan doesn't really feel like having a minivan.

My old car was a 2004 Toyota 4Runner. Ryan and I have been the only owners of that car and we've taken good care of it (it's the other random people that hit the car that haven't taken care of it for us!! Seriously, 2 times, maybe three, it was hit while sitting in the driveway!!). For a car that is 8 years old, it's very low mileage at only 87,000 miles. And it was paid for. So last summer we started shopping around for used minivans. We knew that a 4Runner was worth more than a minivan so the idea was that we wanted to do an even trade. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. There wasn't a place that was willing to make a deal like that for us.

Now to this summer. Specifically the last week. Ryan told me that my car was in need of new tires, which would cost about $600. He said that before he put that money into the car we should go see if there were any minivans available. The whole family drove around on Friday to all the dealerships here in town and searched for used minivans. We found several, but the only place that actually had the prices on the vehicles was at the Mazda/Volkswagen dealership. We talked to a saleswoman there and she was able to get the keys and let us check out the insides of the vans we liked. Two of them we immediately ruled out, one because it was a little too used, and the other because it was formerly owned by a smoker. We made an appointment with her for the next day to test drive the other two.

Saturday morning we went for our appointment and found out that one of the vans we wanted to see had been sold the previous day. I was so bummed! It was a Honda Odyssey and I was just sure we were going to love it! But we were still able to drive the Nissan Quest that was there. We really considered buying it because it was a nice color, and looked pretty nice on the inside. However, when we drove it to Ryan's sister's house and had her husband check it out, he and Ryan discovered some problems with it. I didn't want to chance it with any of that (plus having that van wasn't sitting quite right with me) so we decided not to do it.

I told Ryan that I wanted him to go to the Toyota dealership while the kids took naps to check out a Sienna that was being offered for $12,900. I knew our 4Runner was worth (trade-in value) about $9500. We were willing to put forth $1500, so I figured if the dealership would come down just a little on their price, we should be good to go. So Ryan and the salesman drove the Sienna over to our house so I could check it out (I couldn't go since kids were sleeping). I loved it from the get-go! It had all of the features that I loved in my 4Runner (things like radio controls on the steering wheel, the button that I can push to tell me how many miles are left on my tank of gas, etc.) plus some of the things I was looking for in a van (one door is power sliding, it was VERY clean--no stains on the carpet at all!, all the space I was wanting to have, plus an extra seat that is removable between the two captain's chairs). The only thing it doesn't have is a DVD player. And it's about 30,000 miles over what was on my 4Runner.

So Ryan and the salesman went back to the dealership and the guy told him that they would give us $9500 for the 4Runner, did he want to finance the rest? Ryan couldn't believe it! He couldn't believe the salesman wasn't even going to let him negotiate! So Ryan told him the deal he wanted to do and the guy told him they were too far off and that he couldn't even take that offer to his finance manager. So Ryan left.

I was so bummed! I thought about that van all weekend and I told Ryan to come back today (Monday) and if that guy didn't want to take the offer to the finance manager to find someone who would. I didn't think it was an unreasonable offer at all. Ryan was hoping not to have to deal with the other salesman today, but unfortunately he got there right at the same time as the salesman! But this time around the salesman was willing to take the offer to the finance manager. He came back and told Ryan that they would do that deal, but that Ryan would have to pay the tax, title, and license, which was another $300. So Ryan tells him that now that's pushing the cost to $1800 which is way over what he could pay. Ryan then asked to drive it to White Oak (about 10 min. away) to test it at a higher speed. He found out that the brakes needed a little work (nothing serious and Ryan knows how to fix it). He came back and told them about the brakes and the finance manager gave him two options: they would fix the brakes and Ryan would pay the TT&L or they would pay the TT&L and Ryan would be the one to do the brakes. He went with the second option. :)

And the thing that excites me the most is being able to put more people in the car! No more having to take two cars just because we couldn't fit two extra people in the car! :)

Shopping Cart Saga

*Disclaimer: Only read this if you promise not to judge me too harshly!!

This story is too long for a Facebook post, so a blog post it is!! So I have one of those "makes you feel terrible as a parent" stories to share with you. Except I wish I didn't! And I neglected to post this on Facebook the day it happened because I was afraid of being chastised for this happening in the first place! Here we go:

A week ago last Friday (so 10 days ago), we made a trip to Walmart. I don't know about you other moms with more than one kid, but ever since Zane was old enough to sit up safely in the shopping cart, he's been the one in the front of the cart and Karys sits in the basket part. If we're there for a lot of stuff, we get the mega cart that has the other section for 2 extra kids to sit. But if I'm only there for a short list of stuff, I really don't like pushing that thing around. Plus, I usually get the kids loaded into the cart at one of those cart stalls in the parking lot and there's rarely a big cart in one of those stalls. And like any normal kid, Karys occasionally tries to stand up in the cart. I never purposefully allow this because I know it's dangerous. If she stands up, I always tell her to sit back down. Except this one time.

We'd just pulled up to the checkout line and were standing still, not moving. Karys stood up and I decided I wasn't going to say anything because we weren't moving. She wasn't trying to do anything...she was just standing there. I turned my head to look at the covers of all the magazines. Literally, I looked away for a few seconds. When I looked back, it was too late. What I think happened was Karys tried to sit on the edge of the cart. What I saw was her falling backward off the side of the cart. She narrowly missed hitting that big display at the checkout with all the candy and snack foods! Of course she immediately started crying. I picked up quickly and tried to comfort her. I noticed that a bump was immediately forming on the back of her head. A woman got in line behind me and asked if she had hit her head. When I said yes, she said she heard her head hit from quite a distance away. She was very nice though, and told me she would put my groceries on the conveyor belt so I could hold Karys.

When we got home I looked up online about kids falling out of shopping carts and found all kinds of blogs that said things about "don't let your kid stand up in the cart!" Not helpful...I already knew that! But I knew that the symptoms of a concussion had to do with throwing up, being dizzy, disoriented, etc. And since she didn't seem to have any of those problems I let her eat lunch and then take her nap.

Fast forward 5 days to last Wednesday. I was giving her a bath and while washing her hair I noticed a decent sized area on her head that was squishy to the touch. I thought it was really weird and when a friend came over later to hang out, I had her feel it and we both decided I should make a call to the doctor's office. I was told by the nurse that as long as it wasn't dented in, it should be fine. She said if it was indented it could possibly be a skull fracture. I couldn't feel anything dented in, so I thought we were probably okay.

Over the weekend the "squishiness" was going down and we noticed that the feel of her head was different. The opposite side was nice and smooth and this side was a little bumpy. I called the doctor's office first thing this morning to get her in for an appointment. They were able to get us in with the nurse practitioner about 45 minutes after I called. She confirmed that her head was definitely bumpy and had some dents but said that everything seemed to be healing fine. I asked her if she thought she might possibly have a skull fracture. She said she didn't know but that she'd send us for an x-ray to find out for sure.

For her x-rays the technician told me that Zane was too little to be in there during the x-rays and she wasn't sure if Karys would be willing to do the x-rays if she was left in the room alone with this woman. I told Karys that Zane and I would be in the hall and she needed to do what the lady told her to do. A couple of times I heard the lady tell her to be still, but when she was finished and opened the door for me and Zane to go back in she told me that Karys did great. She said Karys told her that she likes to watch "Mary Poppins" and asked the woman if she liked Karys's dress. :)

We got a call from the doctor's office this afternoon with the results. She actually does have a skull fracture. But it's healing well on its own so no further action is going to be taken. I really can't believe it. When it happened, I was worried about a concussion and what I've read about those. I didn't even think about the possibility of a fracture! But maybe our story will be a cautionary tale for everyone else out there.

Race Update

My goal was to finish the race in 40 minutes or less. My friend, Jaime, and I finished it in 37 minutes 10 seconds. That impressed us, but what impressed us more was that we never stopped running. I was tracking the run on RunKeeper on my phone and we averaged 11 min. 50 sec. per mile. Granted, this time we weren't pushing strollers or anything, which made it a little easier. But we ran almost 2 minutes per mile faster than we've run all week! :)

A Fitness Journey

WARNING: This post contains potentially embarrassing information about me. Read only if you promise not to make fun of me for it. ;)

First, let me get the embarrassing stuff out of the way. Not sure why I'm divulging this...guess I just feel the need to let it all out in the open. :) But the embarrassing stuff is necessary to make my adult fitness journey make sense. So here goes...

Embarrassing Fact #1: I was a chubby kid. Here's what I remember: In 4th grade during the yearly physical fitness test (where you always get weighed), I remember weighing somewhere around 120. Most of the kids my age? Somewhere around 75 or 80, if my memory serves me correctly. Now, I will give myself that I was one of the tallest kids in the class. But still.

#2: I was a chubby teenager. In the 8th grade, I weighed about 160 and wore a woman's size 16. Seriously.

#3: As a kid/teenager, I HATED physical activity! Really hated it. I hated playing outside. I hated being sweaty/dirty. All of it. Hence why I weighed so much. Well, that and the fact that I loved to eat. :)

#4: Because of said hatred for physical activity, I never learned how to swim or ride a bike. Well, it wasn't only for that reason. I didn't learn the bike thing because I was afraid of falling off. I didn't learn the swimming thing because I have this intense fear of drowning and going underwater puts me in severe panic mode. For real.

I think that's enough embarrassing stuff for now. I think it'll help the rest of this post make sense. In my growing up years, I avoided physical activities at all costs. In fact, every year in elementary school when we had to do those physical fitness tests, I failed them MISERABLY. I could not run well worth a flip and I was so bad at it! I mean, that's what kids are supposed to do, right? Run? And yet to do the 1-mile run we were supposed to do, I walked most of it and felt like I was going to die! But I hated that I was one of the biggest kids in my grade. I didn't want to be, and yet I didn't seem to know how to fix it. 

Fast forward to high school. I joined band and the last two weeks of summer vacation were filled with band camp. Outdoors. Exercising pretty much ALL DAY! At first, it was SO difficult! Not to mention that they started our rehearsals with actual exercises, not just marching. We had to do a mile running or walking. Then we did all of these various arm and leg strength training exercises. When I started my freshman year, I was a size 16. After those 2 weeks, I'd dropped an entire size! I didn't change my eating, but by adding in the exercise, the weight just started falling off! The next year, during band camp, I dropped another size and stayed pretty consistent all through high school. So I wasn't one of the skinniest, definitely, but I didn't feel like I stuck out as one of the biggest either. 

Fast forward again to college. Living on campus meant I got quite a bit of exercise just having to walk around from class to class to the cafeteria to the dorm, etc. My freshman year I actually gained back some weight that I had lost that summer before because I was eating in the cafeteria most of the time. But once I got off campus I actually started to improve my fitness levels because the commuter parking lots were REALLY far away from anything! And since I tend to run late, it meant that I was usually booking it to get to class on time! So my junior year of college I decided to start getting into more of a fitness routine. I worked out regularly (and recorded my days that I worked out on my calendar with smiley face stickers!) in addition to having to walk all over campus. I ended up being the smallest I've ever been in my adult life. 

Starting that workout routine in college started me on a fitness journey that I'm still on and will always be on. When thinking about exercise, I had always thought, "I'll have to do this forever???" But once I'd incorporated it for awhile, it wasn't such a big deal. It makes me feel better about myself and it helps me maintain my weight, even when my eating isn't the best it should be. There are times that I don't do good with my workouts and I might go two weeks without doing anything. Luckily, that hasn't happened in awhile. But I can say that I haven't gone probably more than a month in my adult life without working out in some way. And that feels good. It also feels good to meet goals that I as a kid/teenager, I wouldn't have thought I'd be able to do. One of those is running. As you read above, I've never been a good runner. Even at the time of life when you're supposed to be good at it! But as an adult, I hate thinking that there are things that I can't do. I don't want my answer to challenges to be, "I can't do that." So I work on it. I'm not a good runner. Yet. I'm not a fast runner. Heck, I don't even run the entire time! But I try to do better every time.

And thanks to a former school friend/current facebook friend, I now use the RunKeeper app on my phone to track my mileage, average pace, and calories burned. It really helps me make sure I'm being consistent and not moseying along. Because if I can't burn massive calories, I don't really see the point! :) And knowing my average pace helps me compete with myself and try to do better each time.

And so...I'm doing something that my 12 year old self probably wouldn't have thought to ever be possible: I'm doing a 5K! I'm so excited about this!! Probably a little nerdily excited. :) My goal is to walk/run it in 40 minutes. Really, I'd like to do it in less than 40 minutes. I guess I'll find out this Saturday what I'm really capable of. :)

A Bedtime Story

Once upon a time, there was a very cute little girl. This little girl was 3 years old. She had recently learned how to use the potty. Every night when it was time to go to bed, her mommy would take her to the potty one last time. Then her mommy and daddy would pray with her and get her all tucked into bed.

Ten minutes later, the mommy and daddy would hear that familiar sound of the door opening, followed by the pitter patter of little three-year-old footsteps, and the words, "I have to go potty." The mommy and daddy were puzzled. "You just went to the potty; why do you need to go again?" But because the little girl was just in the beginning stages of learning to use the potty, they would let her go. And she usually did. And then she was sent back to bed.

If the mommy and daddy were lucky, the little girl didn't come out of her room anymore and fell asleep quickly. But usually the mommy and daddy were not so lucky. Time would go by and they would think the little girl was asleep. And just when they felt relieved that everyone was sleeping, the mommy and daddy would hear that familiar sound of the door opening, followed by the pitter patter of the three year old's footsteps, and the words: "I have to go potty!" And again, the little girl was given a chance to go to the potty.

This continued night after night. And the mommy and daddy wondered if the little girl was just trying to play them and look for ways to not have to go to sleep. But they wanted to believe their little girl. However, they were growing frustrated with their little girl taking up to two hours to fall asleep after being put to bed. And then the next morning, sometime before it was really a good time to get up, the little girl would come into mommy and daddy's room. "I need to go potty!" And mommy would get up and help her and when they were done, mommy would take her back to the little girl's room and tell her she needed to lay back down because it wasn't time to get up yet. And every morning, the little girl would lay back down in her bed, but wasn't able to fall back asleep.

The mommy and daddy wondered how long this phase would last. And they are still wondering...

to be continued...

(This is a picture of the cute little girl: