this and that

I have had a pretty busy week and I'm exhausted because Sarah has decided to not sleep during the night very well. She only had one nap yesterday and she slept most of last night, so I only let her have one long nap today. I'm hoping we have another good night. I have to confess to say I do still nurse her at night when she wakes....I was told by her doctor she did not need night feedings....but she will go back to sleep so much faster if I just nurse her:) I am super happy that nursing has lasted this long and she will wean from my milk to regular milk around 12 months (if all keeps going well). I have let nursing go from month to month and at this age/stage it is super easy. She only nurses about 4-5 times in a 24 hr period so I don't have to work my day around her nursings!!

Meghan had grandparents day at her school and since no grands live near us she wanted me to attend. Rob was kind enough to say I might be the same age as some of the grandparents....but he was wrong:) Most looked much older than me.hehe I really enjoyed going because it gave me the chance to go and meet some of her classmates.

I took Sarah with me and the little girls in Meghan's class loved her! One sweet little girl asked me if Sarah got on my nerves..... I said no she was a good baby. The little girl (I'll call her K) told me her baby brother got on her Mom's nerves all the time when he was a baby and he still got on her nerves.... K then said her step-Dad was a jerk to her Mom. I was shocked I was getting so much information from K after I had just met her. I asked her why her Step-Dad was a jerk and I did ask if he was mean to her. Thankfully she said he wasn't mean to her, he just liked to yell at her Mom:( I asked her if her grandparents had to leave the party early and she said nope they didn't want to come. I don't like making excuses for people but I told her maybe they were busy.....

Another little girl told me that she lived with her step-Dad too because her other Dad moved away so he could drink beer, hang out with his friends and smoke......

I'm so thankful for the parents I was given because I didn't have to live in any environments like the little girls above speak about and my girls are so lucky to have a wonderful Dad. Having a stable home is not something everyone gets in life and it breaks my heart to hear how some kids live.

On a brighter note.....I have been cleaning out and organizing. I have had everything unpacked for a while and I put some things away and have started pulling things out and cleaning out. I have already taken a huge truck load to Goodwill and will have another trip to make soon. I think living in a small house in England has shown me I really don't need a lot of extras to just keep stored away.

I did decide to get rid of my dolls from when I was younger but Meghan and Jenna found them and wanted to keep them. I was telling them the names of my dolls this evening and they had the nerve to laugh at my dolls names!hahaha I think Tuesday, Tina and Timothy are very cute names for my three cabbage patch dolls:) Meghan and Jenna will call their dolls hairbow...pinky...and other crazy names!ha

Table Rock

Today we had our first family outing in the state of South Carolina (outside...not at a mall or shopping center)!

We headed up to Table Rock state park and we all five loved it!

We packed a picnic and ate lunch before heading out for an hour long hike. We picked the shortest trail because of the girls and me carrying Sarah....oh and because ECU was playing today and we had to be home for Rob to watch the game. ha

Rob is the kind of hiker that looks as you are walking but the girls are the talking, has to stop a lot kind of hikers. Me....I like to take it slow but I keep the girls moving so it doesn't take us hours to complete a mile hike.

We did the short hike, but that doesn't mean it was the easiest. At one point we were thinking I might not make it up the side of the trail because of carrying Sarah in the Moby Wrap. I did make it up and I tell you carrying 20 extra pounds is an awesome workout!!

We let the girls take their shoes off after we did the trail to get their feet wet and they both slipped on the rocks and got wet up past their waists. We thought Jenna hit her head, but thankfully she didn't (at least that is what she is saying).....she did have dirt on her cheek from the fall.

Rob getting a close up view of the falls.

Jenna holding a corn snake at the nature center.

I think we will be back for more hiking and adventure and will have to plan it on a day that there is no football!Ha

And this makes......

our third SV-650 and our 9th motorcycle:)

Welcome to the family, we hope you stick around a while!

no TV.....

Well the title isn't actually accurate:) We do have a TV...three to be exact but we decided to not have one in the living room. I have really enjoyed decorating the house and yes, I work fast. Why....well with moving every three years or so I don't have time to do it slow....if I did that it would never get done. I don't like living around boxes and mess. As you might see in my photos I am not a fan of a lot of knickknacks. I loved getting all my household goods from California and England together.

The large oak cabinet in the picture below is called a high board and I had it custom made in Romania.

I LOVE it and I think it looks beautiful in the living room. It actually could only fit in the living room, so I decorated the room around it. the kitchen/dining room did not have a wall big enough for the high board.

I'm so excited to start back with the show us your life home tours on Kelli's Korner:) I am using this post from a few weeks back because I haven't changed anything in the living room since I posted these pictures. So much has changed since last year. I have moved from a tiny little English house to a 2400 sqft house in South Carolina!

I love looking at all the rooms and get ideas from some.

Thanks for stopping by.

Life

Time flies by when you are having fun...so I guess we are having a lot of fun. I feel like it was just yesterday that Meghan was Sarah's age. I can't believe Meghan will be turning 8 the end of September.

I think I have grown up just as much as she has the past 8 years. I am learning so much about living life and to not miss out on even the small things. My girls are so important to me and I have been truly blessed with three little sweethearts.

Life's lessons to remember.......by me:)

-just because you say you don't have time to do something doesn't make it true....if you want to do something you can always make it happen

-missing a year of someone's life could mean you miss their whole life

-smelling flowers and picking your favorite rock can make someone's day

-letting the dishes or housecleaning go to enjoy a movie with my girls is much more fun

-saying you care doesn't mean as much as showing you care

Some days I wake up so tired because Sarah is up most of the night and I am not the parent that lets her cry it out. The other day I was thinking about my life and I started to realize I have so many things to be thankful for.....I am thankful for my sleepless nights because they are being caused by a beautiful baby girl

.....I am thankful for my messy home, first for having a home...second for the family that makes it messy

.....I am thankful for the bills I have and that I can afford to pay them

I have so many other things to be thankful for I could probably keep typing until I have to pick up the girls from school:)

Sissy

Sissy has arrived at our house in South Carolina!! Mom and Dad drove her down on Thursday and Sissy has been stressed out since then;) Sissy doesn't do well with change...which was one of the reasons we didn't want to take her to England. Her age is the other reason....she is 11 years old.

Sissy is hiding beside Meghan's bed or staying on the back porch most of today. I think it will take her a few days to realize she is here to stay and I think she will enjoy living with us (mainly the girls) again.

Change is hard on everyone but some do better with it....Sissy isn't one of those.

It will be an adjustment for all of us because three years seems like a long time to be away from Sissy and she loved living with her grandparents.

8 months old

Look who is 8 months old!!!

Sarah is 8 months old and changing every day.

She is still nursing around 4 times a day and has finally stopped nursing at night. She eats three meals a day and loves to try new food. Her favorite food is probably Cheerios.

No doctor checkups this month so I will guess she is about 18 to 20 lbs and has almost out grown her 9 month sleepers in the length.

Sarah does a lot of talking (she can say baba boba, mama, dada, papa and many other sounds) and is very curious about things happening around her.

Sarah has moved to South Carolina since our last update and she loves it. She has been swimming in our pool often and loves the water.

Sarah has started crawling a little...or I guess it could be called the army crawl. She only does it when she is really wanting to get something.

She is sitting up better and her favorite place (besides me holding her) is in her walker. She has followed her big sisters all over the downstairs since we moved in to the house. New rugs on the floor is limiting her travels but she is still enjoying walking in it around the kitchen.

Still no teeth...

She loves to laugh and squeal!

Sarah is a very happy, easy going baby girl and is loved very much.