Taylor's Snow Day

I just wanted to say how proud I was of Taylor! She pulled off a 3.4 GPA her first semester at Clemson! Keep up the good work Tay! I love you! Here are some pics of Taylor enjoying the snow at Clemson! Can you guess where she is at?









She is wearing her lab goggles and riding on a cardboard box!

Busy Week

Monday:
So the kids were out of school today! I had to take Carpenter to get the second dose of the flu shot. And while we were there I went ahead and got Marley's 8 year old check up. I took all four kids to the doctor. OH MY! It was crazy! Here I was trying to listen to the doctor, holding Rowan, and Carpenter and Sadie running in circles around the doctor and me. They were all over the place. And on top of that Marley had to get two shots and cried before the shots, during the shots, and after the shots! Thank goodness halfway into our appointment Gran surprised me and came in to help me with the children! Thank you Gran! I guess she knew I needed some help!

Tuesday: Back to school! Marley went back to school and so did Carpenter. They both had a great day. Carpenter got evaluated by a new speech lady at the Meyer Center. I was soo pumped that all went well!(I will write more about this later!) Marley had a bunch of homework because she was out of school on Monday!

Wednesday: Carpenter went to church preschool! Mrs. Tammy picked him up for me! It is so great to have a close relationship with your neighbors! I missed a cute moment though. Nathan told his mom that he and Carpenter wanted to walk into school all by themselves. And they did! I probably would have cried! For some reason I get mushy over school things! Today was show-n-tell, Carpenter's favorite. He brought in chicken dance elmo. He also had his new cool elmo light up book bag from Mema. Sadie loved the book bag so much that I got her a girly elmo book bag for her birthday. Both of them are rollie book bags. They love them! Sadie will start MMO next month for one day a week! This will be good for her not to have to be stuck in the car all day! And this will give her a chance to play well with others. Pray for the other kids that they will survive! Just kidding!

Thursday: Today was speech day with Mrs. Donna. Carpenter talked so much she didn't have time to write all of it down! Next it is our usual Thursday lunch out at Schlotzsky's Deli. I love it! Marley was going to go see Taylor at Clemson. And I really wanted to go see her! I was unsure how the kids would do! But I haven't been to her dorm or to visit her at Clemson! I know you bloggers can't believe I haven't visited her but my life has been a little busy. The kids were pretty good on the ride down to Clemson. When we were a family of three we used to take Marley to the games with Brian Harmon. Taylor's dorm is all the way up on the 5th floor. I was surprised about how big the room was. I mean it was tiny but when you loft the beds you have more room! So we enjoyed her dorm room. We had to take the stairs down because they only had one elevator working and it was always full! Next we went out to eat at Monterrey's. Taylor's room mate, Kayla, joined us. We had as much fun as you can eating with 4 children. I liked seeing Taylor's dorm room! The only other dorm room I have been in was Kelly's at Converse. It was neat to see what life would have been like if I had went to Clemson.

MeMe and Rowan

What do college girls have in their fridge? Soy milk, pickles, bread, and bottled water!

Taylor's Desk

Kayla and Carpenter

Sadie loved the ball!

Kayla and Taylor

Rowan

Rowan, Taylor and I

Bunk bed fun!

Carpenter loved trying to climbing the bunk beds!

Friday:
School and running around. An usual day! Meme bought Rowan a light up musical toy for the car. It comes with a remote control so I can try to make him happy while he is in the car.

Saturday: We are going to try to go to get some groceries! We are completely out of everything! I spent $185 at Walmart! This was huge sticker shock! But I had to buy two cases of diapers! We ate great tacos at my Memes! You missed out Taylor!

All this week has been tough on my sleep. Everyone kept waking up and I got an average of about 4-5 hours! Ugh! I could conquer the world with more sleep!

Birthday Party

We were able to have an unscheduled party for Marley and Sadie! Thank you Gran and Pop-Pop for letting us have the party at your house. My mom made the cake. We brought pizza! And everyone seemed to have a good time waiting on our blizzard! Lee and Amy came up from Columbia, I was really dying to see Lee ice skate! Taylor came home from Clemson!

Slide show of fun:

Video of kids playing with presents:

Party Postponed

We had to delay Marley's and Sadie's birthday party due to the blizzard we were supposed to have! And we did have the most beautiful snow coming down and then melted when it hit the grown! Man, were we disappointed! No party, no snow to play in!

Please pray for my cousin, Ian, he just celebrate his 5th birthday! They found a mass on his back and they are unsure what it is. They are going for an ultrasound on Tuesday. Please pray that the Lord will give my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Scott strength during this time. And pray that the mass just disappears and all is well with the world! God is full of miracles! Why can't we pray and ask for them? I have learned of the power of prayer! It is a huge part of my life! I need to take even more time to pray and read the bible.

And another quote I want to post. Jon and I went to a family/marriage bible study class at church taught by Mr. Dan Perry. He started the class with this: "A marriage doesn't fall apart it drifts apart." This is sooo true, do something today to keep your marriage alive! Don't get busy with work or kids or drained about finances but enjoy eachother's company!

Happy Birthday Sadie

Happy Birthday Sadie May Long!

Sadie you were our biggest baby at 6lbs 12oz. You looked just like your sister. But as time grew your own personality blossomed! I remember your first night home from the hospital was horrible. You screamed the whole night! Your acid reflux and milk allergy almost got the best of me sometimes. (There's only so many times that you can get projectile vommitted on!)
Sadie you bring so much joy to our lives! I call you our "Spirited Child!" I love your spirit please let it never fade! You are so funny and filled with love. You challenge me but keep me entertained. I can't wait to see you grow! I pray that you will seek and find God's will for your life. I pray you will have a burning desire to share Jesus Christ with the world!

Snow Days

Happy Birthday Marley!

Today celebrates the birth of our first daughter, Marley Ann Long. I remember the night of the 14th, I was having back pain. I didn't know this was the start of labor. And on the morning of the 15th I was in labor! I was shocked, your due date was the 23rd! I thought I had more time to prepare!

Marley arrived at 8:57 pm. She weighed 5 lb. 11 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. I thought she was absolutely beautiful! I really couldn't believe how many people were there to greet Marley. We had a waiting room full! Here we were two young parents. I couldn't believe the amount of support we received from friends and family. The time in the hospital it really felt like we were a family; Jon, Marley, and myself. (I joke that maternity hospital stays are like our alone vacation times!)Jonathan changed Marley's first diaper! Jonathan just remembers how she just stared at him with those beautiful brown eyes.

I can not believe 8 years have passed by! I love you, Marley. You are such a wonderful, beautiful, caring, funny, loud, and loving girl! You are the first born with many responsibilities to your brother's and sister. Carpenter, Sadie, and Rowan adore you! God has truly blessed us!

Meal Plan

We were spending way too much money on going out to eat. It just seems so handy to grab something on the way home! But I saw that commerical of Kate of "Jon and Kate plus 8" saying how she cooks everything and never goes out to eat and makes everything fresh. I figured if she could cook a home made meal all of the time well then so can I. Well she buys all of this organic food. Why do they make food that is supposed to be good for you and healthy so expensive? I mean I will pay more for stuff made in the USA and is organic but sometimes it is just too expensive. (side note: for those of you with kids who get a little constipated; when I would go to Whole Foods and buy their organic Happy Cow milk, it would make them have a normal bowel movement everyday. Now, Jon is going to have a comment about all I talk about is pee and poo.) Okay so back to the point! I made a meal plan for the whole week. I went to our wonderful church cookbook. And picked out a whole bunch of meals for me to cook. And then I went to the grocery store and bought all of the ingredients. My total for one weeks worth of meals $135. So hopefully I can make that amount a little less by watching sells ads and planing my meals around them. I remember when we had a family of three and our monthly grocery amount was $150 - $200. But with a bigger family becomes bigger bills but also comes with bigger joy.
Monday - Baked Spaghetti
Tuesday - Chef Boyardee Pizza, it is Marley's birthday and that is what she wanted! Can you believe it? I will feed my family for like $4. Granted C.B. Pizza is not the healthiest thing. Anne, this is my version of homemade pizza. Hopefully I can make more completely homemade stuff as I get my planning together.



Wednesday - Meatloaf
Thursday - BBQ Chicken
This is an awesome recipe for BBQ Chicken:
4-6 Chicken Breasts, cut in half
1 jar of barbecue sauce
1 can of coke

Pour all into a crock pot. Turn on low. Cook for 6 hours

by: Cindy Marlar

Friday - Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Saturday - it is Sadie's birthday. And birthday party day so I am not sure.

So we hope to be better stewards of God's money that He has blessed us with. I think this will work out well! Plan your meals. Cook them ahead if I can. Sometimes it seems hard to cook with babies crying and breast feeding. But having a game plan makes everything more manageable. I love my night time schedule. I hope to have a schedule that will give me sanity but also will be open to creativity.

Sorry, I know everyone doesn't care about my family's meal plan. But this is my blog and I can write about stupid stuff.

Thursday Thirteen

13 Things that are in my refrigerator:

1. A whole case of Dasani water. I love the brand Dasani. It tastes the most like my parents well water! I stopped drinking sodas while pregnant with Rowan due to G. Diabetes. I used to could not believe that people could drink 8 glasses of water a day. But I can! I love water now! I can't stand the thickness of soda. But I still have my occasional glass of sweet tea!

2. Snickers ice cream bars. I love them! I am not a big fan of the regular candy. But the ice cream version of Snickers is great! This is one of my cravings while breastfeeding.

3. A Dozen eggs. We go through a ton of eggs. The last I cooked eggs for the family, I cooked 10 eggs. And Rowan isn't even eating food yet!

4. Baking Soda. I have no idea how old this is or why I have it still in there. It is just one of those things you are supposed to have in the frig, right?

5. Breast milk. I have pumped just two bags full of milk. I am getting prepared for my spa day, Jon! You should of seen my freezer when I was pumping for Carpenter. Jonathan said it was a diary and that we were going to make our own ice cream and butter.

6. Bacon. We go through a TON of bacon. Carpenter, Sadie, Marley, and Jonathan are bacon monsters! I am not kidding. They will eat up a package before I even get a chance to get some for myself. Gran bought me the microwavable bacon so it would be easier for me on school mornings.

7. Amoxilcillin. Sadie is getting over an ear infection. She hasn't had one in forever!

8. Horse. A frozen horse from Carpenter's birthday cake. Marley wanted me to save it so she could eat it later. I don't think she wants to eat it but wants to keep it forever.

9. Milk. Vitamin D whole milk. I still buy Vitamin D whole milk because my kids are tiny and they could use the extra calories. I am not a fan of milk. So everyone else drinks it.

10. Juice. I can not tell you how fast we go through juice. I buy huge containers of apple, orange, and grape juice. Each container usually doesn't make it to day 2. I also buy capri sun juice boxes. I like that brand. I have a drawer just for juice boxers. (I also have a drawer for snacks in the kitchen, the babies know how to break into it). Carpenter and Sadie know exactly where the juice boxes are, they can open up the frig and get one. Scary, huh?

11. Cinnamon Rolls. It has to be Pillsbury. We got through some Cinnamon rolls. I guess you can tell breakfast is big in our house.

12. Tortillas. I make breakfast, bean, beef, cheese tortillas. I guess that is the mexican in me.

13. Pediasure milk. Sadie was allergic to milk. And she was also tiny and the doctors were worried about her weight. So I had to buy the kid ensure's, Pediasure. They come in serval flavors, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. They are very expensive. One tiny bottle full is like $1.75.

My favorite thing I remember in my mom's refrigerator growing up. I would always put a snow ball in the freezer. We don't get too much snow in the Upstate, so I wanted to keep a reminder of the fun we had playing in the snow and eating snow cream.

School Days

We are back to our school schedule. It hasn't been a good week for everyone. Rowan who cries constantly in the car got so upset that he threw up. I was really worried about him. Is he getting physically sick in the car or is it that he just doesn't want to be in there? So I took him to the doc and he is fine, he just doesn't like his car seat or laying on his belly.

Sadie is still jealous of Carpenter going to school. I may put her in MMO for one day a week. So she doesn't have to tag along. Hopefully she will enjoy playing with new kids.

Carpenter seemed very happy to be back at school. Jonathan took him to school this morning. Carpenter looked so adorable running with his Elmo book bag in between our giant oak trees to get into Jon's truck. He couldn't wait to go to school. He waved to me all the way down the street. Jonathan said he went right in and said hey to Mrs. Jan and then went out into the hall way to put his book bag on the hook(of course he needs a little help because he is not tall enough to put it on the hook, but he knows where his name is). Then he went back into the room and couldn't wait to play. Jonathan asked him for a kiss good - bye. He gave Jon a kiss. Mrs. Karren thought it was so cute, as soon as Jon turned his back Carpenter wiped his kiss off! Today was show-n-tell, Carpenter's favorite activity. He loves bringing in his favorite toys to show to everybody.

I remember how anxious I was when Carpenter started at FIFBC. I was all excited that Carpenter was starting school at our church. We went to meet the teacher night, and I came home and cried. Carpenter was also in school at the Meyer Center, and he was doing really well there. But at FIFBC I saw all of the kids, how big they were, they were talking a bunch, Carpenter wasn't potty trained. I was panicked! I lost it! I had always hoped Carpenter would be in a regular classroom in elementary school. And for the first time, I felt maybe he won't be. I was worried if everyone could understand his wants and needs. I knew at the Meyer Center they had experience with children with special needs. I just wanted to make sure his teachers would love him and not be burden by him not being potty trained, Carpenter not being as verbal. Now, I know that they love him! He fits well in his classroom. The class at FIFBC is really important to me. These will be his peers, they will grow up with him. Later on protect him from possible bullies at school. At first when we found out Sadie was a girl, we were a little surprised. We thought for sure she would be a boy and would protect Carpenter later on. But Sadie will always protect him. She has this spit-fire personality. Everyone better watch out. Sorry I am kind of rambling on and skipping thoughts. Ask Kelly and Annie, in high school I would just jump around in thought, they were supposed to know what I was thinking in my head.


Please continue to pray for Caylyn, David, and a new one Lauren. Lauren is the daughter of Cindy and Adny McCraw. They have an awesome testimony. Cindy is one of the strongest women I know. I had a powerful conversation with Cindy one time, right after Carpenter was born. She probably didn't think it meant anything. But she told me that sometimes she cries. This powerful woman whom I admire cries. It just struck me that it is okay to cry about all of this. I know that "it is okay to cry" is a simple phrase, but it was very powerful to me. Sometimes when you are hit with something surprising or hard, I tend to keep it all inside to manage it. Thank you Cindy, your words always mean alot to me.

I've Calmed Down!

After the kids woke up from their nap(which was not long enough), I took them outside. I bundled everyone up. I put the two middle kids in the red wagon. Held Rowan in my arms(I need one of those back pack things, but they just don't fit my short stature good), and we took off for a walk. Marley rode her hot rod scooter. Then Carpenter and Sadie rode their Big Wheels. Sadie actually found her lead foot. Usually our wild child was too scared to push the pedal. The only time they both managed to steer was when they wanted to bump into each other. They would play their version of bumper cars. I tried to keep Rowan warm from the cold(Arm about to fall off from carrying him). Next we played on the play set and Rowan finally fell asleep in my arms. I turned my day back into a positive one. They also managed to go to the potty alot more that evening. The underpants are all clean, but I haven't put them back on yet.

Later that night, I went to Target by myself after the kids were asleep. I had to go get the girls birthday party invitations. Then I came back home and cleaned up my wrecked house. And right now I am looking at that mess again and I don't feel like cleaning it up. I can't wait til 18 more minutes til the kids are in the bed. I will run to the bed and get some sleep before I have to get up and feed Rowan several times during the night.

Tomorrow our life is back to the busy schedule of Marley's school, Carpenter's school and therapy appointments. I have enjoyed this Christmas break. Not taking my shower until 9:30am. Hopefully I will get myself and all the kids ready and out the door and to school on time!

Sidenote: My mom bought Carpenter and Sadie pull-ups. I hope to try them tomorrow after nap time.

Potty Training He**

Last night Jon and I ran to Babies R Us to find the thick underwear's for the kids. I thought the kids were ready! Carpenter went pee pee in the potty several times yesterday. And Sadie tells me every time after she goes. So I was hoping with a little adjustment she would be ready. I was so excited that today was the big day. I was up with Rowan at 5am. Carpenter woke up at 6am. I took him immediately to the potty, cheers everything was going well. I then put his clothes on him and his new underwear. We went through 11 pairs of underwear between Sadie and Carpenter. Carpenter would pee on the potty and also in his pants. Sadie would not! She only peed in her pants. At 9:38am I gave up! I didn't want to give up! I am hugely disappointed! But they kept wetting their pants. I took them to the potty every 30 minutes. Some books say take them every 30 minutes, some even every hour. I don't really remember potty training Marley. Marley was very easy to potty train and would hold it all night. I don't remember having to take her every 30 minutes. She would get in trouble for holding it too long.

So I had to give up. With breastfeeding and Jon gone to the office to work. I would be alone to potty train two kids by myself. I wanted to continue to try but literally I couldn't do it. I was getting frustrated, which they can sense. They were getting tired of going to the potty a bunch.

The funny thing is that as soon as I put diapers back on them. They both asked to go pee pee and they both went! Why? Why do you want to go pee pee now with a diaper on? Why not when you were wearing your big girl/boy pants?

So I am in a foul mood. I knew it was going to be hard! I did not expect to give up! I will try again! I am just praying about it going better next time. I am still going to take them to the potty with diapers on. I have all the wet underwear's in the washer!

Hopefully the day will get better. And I will get past the disappointment. I think I may be more disappointed in myself that I didn't stick with it longer!