Gimme A "B": ~Fall is on it's way~

Today has been a wonderful day. I woke up to Alan getting out of the shower and into his work clothes(a wonderful way to wake up), then I woke up again to him saying "shoot...I'm late! Ready for prayer?" I lay in bed will he knelt beside the bed and prayed for us to have a good day, for us both to have the stamina we need to get throughout the day. He preyed for me and the baby and for our health. He expressed gratitude for our situation, our very blessed situation and the blessings that seem to flow in over and over.
I kissed him and told him I loved him and he left. As I heard his truck start and the garage door open I jumped out of bed(well as best I can) and ran to the garage so that I could shut the door for him(it is broken and he can't close it from his car) once I got to the garage and almost opened the door I heard his engine roar as he drove away, that's weird I thought he wouldn't have just left without closing it. Then I opened the door to see the door closing and Calvy standing on his tip toes holding the button down so the door would close. "Hey bud" I said in surprise "I didn't know you were awake".
"I heard Daddy walking down the hall and woke up."

Calvy watched a show on Netflix while I read scriptures in bed, and then turned to my new best friend, this, I have carried this with me since Monday morning and have read it at any chance I had. I am almost done, so I have had chances, but not many....and I am a ssslooooooow reader. It is a great book though. It has inspired me to blog again and get my memories down so that we have something to remember and cherish. It has also helped me to relish the little things, the things that I take for granted. I have tried harder to be with my children and play with them, to be their friend and imagine together.

We had breakfast together and spent the rest of the morning cleaning. Calvinor(I told alan how Nie calls her 2 oldest Claine and how cute I thought it was, and he came up with Calvinor) cleaned their room as KK(also a nickname from Alan) took a morning nap. I cleaned like a mad woman, laundry scrubbing showers and bathtubs, floors and dishes. It felt really good, getting around these days is getting tougher, but I was grateful to have the energy to do this. We did Face Time with my Momma and big sister, but my sound stopped working so we did sign language. It was good to see family. I miss Arizona these days and can;t wait to be by family...BUT will really miss the snow and seasons.

At snack time I was scrubbing the shower trying not do puke from the smell of vinegar(yuck!)

C: Can I have cheese?!
M: Yes!
C: Can I have pudding?!
M: Yes!
C: Can I have mumble mumble?
M: Yes! Calvin! You can have whatever you want!

I walked into the dining room a few minutes later and saw calvin eating a huge piece of chocolate cake, leftover from a Birthday party we went to the night before. I said "Calvin? Cake?" "You said I could have whatever I wanted." he said. He was right, I did. I was impressed though, he had taken the piece out of the tupperware it was in and got a plate and fork. He was very grown-up and tidy about the whole thing, I would have imagined him just eating it straight from the tupperware with his fingers. another reminder that he is REALLY growing up.

Anyway, at about 1pm, I got a call from Alan informing me that we were invited to lunch with Dr. M and his wife, I was in my jammies, sweaty, and tired. My chores were not quite done and I thought it was still morning...not 1pm. I told him to come home and help me get the kids out the door, because I had spent the whole morning getting after them to clean their rooms and playroom, and I was done, plus I needed a shower.
"Are you sure you have time for a shower?"
"Yes. good-bye."
We made it to lunch and had a good time out, much needed and very much within our budget. :0)

We have had a very fortunate experience happen to us this week. Alan went from 0 to 60 in his associateship. Our friend and Alan's boss was in an accident and broke his leg and got pretty darn banged up. We got the news Saturday and quickly realized that Alan would be the sole provider for care at the practice. His first day he saw 60 patients, his second 74. He has been running full speed and doing amazingly, I am so proud of him. I suddenly feel like a grown-up, like we are now able to walk over that threshold into adulthood. He comes home late feeling exhausted and ready for a break, and by the time he comes home I am exhausted and SO ready for a break, so it is tiring, but fulfilling. Dr. M is recovering VERY well and quickly too. They are a great family and we have been praying for them daily.

I have learned this past week that motherhood is extremely challenging in ways I never thought, one of them being that I don't know what to do. I often find myself on the couch wondering what I should be doing, should I play with the children, should I clean, should we go somewhere, should I....?

It's difficult for me to just sit and play with the children. I feel I have so many other things I need to do. Today, though, I realized that it does not need to be an all day thing, playing or chores, that there can be a balance, and needs to be. So I played with, or watched the children play outside with the hose today. They were being so cute. Caleb was holding the hose and Calvinor were at the other end of the hose trying to fill up plastic bags leftover from their snacks. They were laughing and screaming and having fun. I could feel them making memories that they would love to look back on. I took pictures and they poured water on my feet. It was a nice moment to be out there and enjoy time together. It never lasts long, everyone gets cold and ends up crying and heads inside. Currently I am holding Caleb who fell and started to cry and as I picked him up, nuzzled his wet little head into my neck. Calvin is crying because he was reprimanded for bullying, and Ellie is outside playing in the hose in her 3rd outfit. Nixon is trying to annoy me by taking a mouthful of food out of his bowl and dropping it on the just to lick it up and make all kinds of disgusting marks on my nice clean floor. Ugh.

I am very annoyed by my dog, every moment of every day, I crave the smell of my dishwasher detergent, rubbing alcohol, bleach and really any other chemical. I confided in Alan the other day, that I am craving these weird things and confessed to sniffing alcohol several times a day. I also told him my most embarrassing smell that I enjoy, ammonia. I like the smell of our dirty cloth diaper bucket when I open it, not the poo smell but the ammonia, the stretch that singes my nose hairs. I like it....... I eat several Twizzlers a day and love to watch "Murder, She Wrote" I am so looking forward to Fall that I have already decorated our home in Halloween attire. We have webs and bones and bats and rats and spiders, jack-o-lanterns, you name it. I realized today though that I now have to deal with decorations all over the house while trying to prepare for this birth. Oh boy, I should have thought this through. It is one of those things that if I don't end up doing it at the time that I feel, it will never happen...even if it is 2 months early.

Well, my kids are OUT OF CONTROL! I need to go find something for them to do before someone is seriously injured or I lose my mind. Alan is off finding new patients. Pray for us!

So this is the end of my very all-over-the-place post.

Love to all!

This is a huge series of pictures. These are the last moments we had with our very best friends(cousins by adoption) before they left for Davenport. I want you to keep an eye on Calvy. My sweet little boy.