What is going on this week?

This has been one busy weekend.  My parents and I headed on a road trip on Saturday to bring 6 youngsters to church camp in Northern Mississippi.  They were all very excited to go.  We stopped halfway and stayed in a hotel.  It was a great deal I found online.  We got there early so the kids could swim all evening.  Well, the pool was green and closed.  Bummer!  Some insane people risked it and swam anyway.  Gross!  Hattie very dramatically told me, "They're gonna DIE!"  She said Paw Paw told her that.  He denied it.  

We got up early Sunday morning, went to church, and then got on the road to continue to camp.

We spent a couple hours more than planned at the camp because of an insane thunderstorm.  We finally got all the kids in their cabins and said our goodbyes.  My parents and I headed out for the drive home.  

We got home at 10:30 that night.  I was tuckered out and feeling yucky from a summer cold that hit me the day before.  My ankles and feet were rebelling from sitting in a car for so long.  Eric was shocked at the size of them.  I collapsed in bed and got up bright and early on Monday to take Lydda three hours away to meet her Aunt Kristi.  Lydda was very excited to get to spend the week with her cousin Emersyn.  My mom, Collins, and I then drove back home.  I stopped for a pedicure before going home to hopefully help the fluid continuing to collect in my feet.  It didn't really help.  I decided I was going to prop my feet up when I got home and do nothing the rest of the night.  That didn't go as planned.

An hour after arriving home, I got a phone call from the nurse at church camp. Hattie was coughing a lot, running a fever, and had a 25 minute nosebleed.  She wasn't feeling good at all, but did not want me to come and get her.  She had been excited about camp for a year and had packed 2 weeks early.  We knew that she would just get worse if she stayed.  The heat was doing a number on her and bringing her home was what was best.  Eric and I jumped in the car and drove 3 hours to pick her up.  One of the counselors was very nice and drove to meet us so we didn't have to drive 6 hours.  We got home in the wee hours of the morning.  I was glad to have my baby girl in my arms safe and sound.  She is laying next to me resting.  I have a couple of fun things planned for the rest of the week for us to do together.  She is getting lots of extra loving and attention from us.  

 Here is my resting baby.

She is heartbroken and crying a lot.  

She keeps checking the time and letting me know what Emogene is doing at camp.

I did cry quite a lot on my way to pick her up because I knew how upset she would be.

I thought I would be spending a week alone with my baby belly puttering around the house.

Now I have Hattie to keep me company.  34 weeks pregnant and feeling great, except for the summer cold.  I'm working on getting the swelling down now that I won't be driving around so much.

We have been working hard to get everything ready for the baby.  We got new carpet installed last week.  This was super exciting because it meant I could start fixing up Bean's room.  The furniture is situated.  We sent off a rocking chair to be reupholstered.  That will be the final piece. 

We have the baby bed put together and the mini crib almost put together in my room.  Eric and I had a big laugh. He had put together the mini crib while I was driving to Jackson.  He texted me a picture of it and asked if I noticed anything.  We now call it the mini-cage.

The bottom of it was not in the box.  We are going to start training the baby early for the UFC championship.  Ha!  Eric has been emailing the company back and forth trying to get the right parts for it.  They will get it straightened out and send them soon.  It looks very cute next to my bed.  Only a few weeks left to go.  Oh!  I am up to 7 pounds gained.  If this fluid stays with me, I'll have lots more pounds gained for my appointment next week.

Lunatics!

It must have been obvious that these flatlanders were enamored by the hill at the park.

Love!

I am surrounded by love!

An Easter Photoshoot

I am using the word photo shoot very lightly.  It bordered on torture for the children.

We went to visit my sister, and I was ecstatic to get all Easter dresses in the mail in time to take them with us. The Texas Bluebonnets were in bloom and I thought it would be a great opportunity to update pic of the girls.  

It was a laugh fest for me as you will see.  My laughter was brought on by a number of things.

#1 They looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested they get in the middle of the bluebonnets.
"There might be stickers or bugs!"

I had to change the location to the very edge of the flowers.  Which meant, hardly any bluebonnets in the pictures.

#2 I had to deal with the lunatic man that kept trying to photo bomb us.

 

We got off to a pretty good start.  It was looking hopeful.

 #3 Someone spotted a spider!!! Ahhhhh!

 #4 I decided the one at a time approach.  It was going well until the sun blinded my model

and a random child kept walking into the picture.

 #5 Now you see why random child was unsupervised.

 I decided to give random child a shot a pics.

She did very well.

 #6 A spider was spotted in Emogene's hair.  Ahhhhh!  

And you see how my assistant is assisting in the spider removal.

#7 And, he decided to wake up.  This caused Lydda to pass out.

 Model #3 is coming to take her place.

#8 She is a little frightened...

 ...and can't stop looking for bugs.

#9 I decided at this point to rescue them from the dangerous Spiderville and we went to a bridge.

  

The ninth one is the charm.  They are all looking at the camera and no one looks angry or frightened.

This was so much easier when they were babies.