Home at last!

This Bishop (aka daddy) loves nothing more than coming home Sunday night after a LONG day of meetings and home visits. And we're pretty excited to see him, too!!

Even better.

Have you ever read Oh, the Places You'll Go, by Dr. Seuss? Ezra has been on a Seuss kick lately, so I've been reading that one almost daily. At one point it talks about "the waiting place." I have to admit that the last stretch of this pregnancy has taken me to the waiting place. I'm worn out a lot of the time, so we just don't seem to get out and do all that much. We're just waiting. Ugh. It's not a great place. And then it seems everyone else is out making summer memories. As they should be. As WE should be too!!! 

I decided this morning that the waiting place was no longer a place for us! We were going berry picking and we were going to eat ice cream and this day was going to ooze with summer goodness!! After double checking that everyone had shoes, mostly clean faces, and had gone potty, we buckled into the van. We were literally 7 minutes down the road when the cry came from the back, "I have to go potty!!!" It was not a good place to try and stop, so I told my little one to hold it. We kept driving, missed a turn, got back to where we needed to be, moved up a few more exits, and the cry came again--this time accompanied by bouncing up and down in her seat. I told her to hold tight. We would get off at the next exit. Well, the next exit was not promising. Over a mile down the road, I finally spied a Cumberland Farms and packed all the littles out of the van and into the store. I looked desperately at every corner. NO bathrooms. WHAT? Okay. I'm not feeling so good about leaving the waiting place at this point. We're about 15 minutes from our destination, so I buckle everyone back into the van and plead with my little one to hold it just a bit longer. 

We make it about 5 more minutes down the road when I turn to see how things are going. "Are you still dry?" I get a "no" head nod. "Did you have an accident?" I get a "yes" head nod. I take a deep breath. I turn the van around and announce that we are going to have to change our plans. Moans and groans fill the van, and I am trying not to feel like a total failure. 25 minutes later, we pull into our driveway with a grumpy load of people. My little girly hops out with no apparent wetness on her dress or seat. We go inside to finally resolve this potty issue. Guess what? Her undies are still dry. Yup. All that ridiculousness and there was really no accident after all! 

After some lunch the blood sugar levels are raising and we're all feeling a little better. I really don't want this day to defeat us, so I start scheming. As soon as Marty walks in the door, I announce that I think it is a good time to go to the beach. Within 10 minutes we are ready to go. 

It was meant to be. The weather was beautiful, the water was warm, they were letting people in for free today, the girls were fishes the entire time, and Ezra loved the sand and seaweed. I don't think there was even complaining when we said it was time to wrap it up. We got nearly two hours in at the beach as a family, and we still made it home in time to cook zucchini fritters and Cobb salad for dinner. Finally, we broke out of that stinky old waiting place! And it really felt wonderful! With a victory under my belt, I'm coming up with a whole list of little summer goodies to do with the kids. We'll wait for our baby girl by not just sitting around, waiting. As it should be!

Beauties

Aren't they just lovely? These girls of mine are growing up too quickly. 

At least if they have to grow up, they still know how to be silly!

And they are passing it on:)

Summer Hike

We have relatively few days this season with our papa bear off from work. He starts back in teaching summer school next week. We decided that even with the heat we were going to get out today. After throwing around many ideas, our plan came together: lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant, then off to hike in the shade of the woods.

This afternoon is a movie and glasses of blueberry iced tea or resting under fans. Lazy summer days. Good stuff. 

Chopped.

I finally broke down and chopped my little man's hair yesterday. His baby curls had gone from adorable to a bit out of control, so out came the clippers.

Before the chop. Curls everywhere .

One last run of the fingers through his long hair.

And done! A new little man has emerged. Just in time to become a big brother in a few more weeks!

Happenings.

We've been busy bees lately. BUT today is Mr. V's last day of school!!!! I'm ready for things to slow down just a bit. He's back teaching summer school in less than two weeks, so we'll savor whatever we can get. 

In the meantime, some snapshots of life: 

Ezra napping with his "ammer." More beloved than anything soft and cuddly.

Lots of dress up and Princess play. Typically their parents have died and they are now lost in the woods looking for help. They love tragedy.

Lots of drawing and painting. Sorry nature. We love you, but we sure go through a lot of trees with how much art the kiddos do. We recycle most of it. I promise.

And we finally managed to plant somewhat of a garden. It's pants optional gardening for the under 3 crowd around here. 

Happy last day of school!!!!

Little Blind Babe

Well, it was an unexpectedly eventful weekend. Friday morning I sent the children out to play for a few minutes while I finished making our shopping lists for errands. Within 2 minutes Lucy was screaming and crying and running back inside with her hands over one of her eyes. At first I thought one of her siblings had hurt her or that she had bonked her face on something; however, after talking with everyone they explained that something had fallen out of the tree they were playing under and into Lucy's eye. I couldn't see anything in the eye, but I tried to flush it, put a few drops in, and she spent the afternoon resting. 

By the time Marty got home she was still complaining of pain, not opening her eyes, and not letting us leave her side. Our girls can be drama queens, so we weren't sure how seriously she was injured. Marty gave her a Priesthood blessing, we finished our Friday night tradition of pizza, gave her pain meds, and put everyone to bed.

The night was a bit fitful for her, and when we woke up in the morning her eye was more swollen and still weepy. Not good signs. 

We ate breakfast and threw our morning plans out the window to get Lucy and Marty to the hospital. A few hours later I got the report: poor baby girl had to have her eye numbed and a green bit of something from the tree removed from her eye. Whatever it was had lodged itself way up under her lid and caused a nasty corneal abrasion. Luckily her sight was not bothered by the ordeal, and she was brave through the whole process. 

She briefly opened her eyes for an hour or so while the eye was numb, but then clamped them shut when the pain came back. For over 48 hours she had refused to open her eyes. Finally, today around noon she decided to join the world of sight again. I feel blessed that this was all temporary and that we are getting our little girl back. After a little more ointment to administer and a checkup on her healing this week, we will be able to put this all behind us.

I'm grateful for healthy bodies that have the ability to heal and skilled and gentle Doctors that take care of my children when I cannot. We are feeling blessed.