Bad Children

While watching the begining of Supernanny tonight, Anniston was obvisouly astounded by the unruly/wild/horrible children! She said, and I quote, "Those are bad bad children- more than us!" Too funny! I'll honestly tell you my kids have their moments but they aren't in need of Supernanny- yet. But the tween years are right around the corner...

Ditch Doctor Wes Doesn't Do Puke

My husband told me last night on the phone that he "admired" me. Not because I found cancer's cure or wrote a bestseller or entrepreneured a big business. Because I'd cleaned up more puke than anyone should have to ever clean up the past week. Wow- and he "admired" that! I mean, that's definitely a pretty low job on the totem pole...maybe right above or below scrubbing the toilets at a fast food joint or gas station. Probably right there with one another. You see, he is a Ditch Doctor- a term he used the other night to describe what he does. He responds to emergency calls and helps bring people back from (almost) dead and keeps them alive until delivering them to a waiting doctor. He has seen more than I care to imagine- death, wrecks, mangled and broken bodies, open wounds, heart attacks, seizures, and I'm sure he could give you more details. Details I do not care to hear or think about at all! He flies with the worst of the worst patients on LifeFlight and puts himself at risk to get them where they need to be- quickly. I think all the admiration falls on him. But he appreciates (and even admires!) the fact that I stay home and run the daily household business which includes our 3 girls and whatever comes with that. Which this past week included puke. Lots of puke. And puke is one thing he "just can't handle". Go figure....

Hell Week

Yes, thats what I would refer to the past 6 days (and counting...) as. It all started Tuesday morning when I went in to get Miss Merry Sunshine- aka Ayden Claire. Upon opening the door of her bedroom the stench of vomit hit me. She had thrown up in the night and it was on everything- baby dolls, blankets, sheet, bumper, Ayden Claire and her pajamas. It was your worst nightmare. Then Anniston got it next, throwing up at 1:00 am on our freshly changed sheets forcing us to sleep on the couches the rest of the night. By Thursday I thought Ayden Claire was well and good to go then on our way home from picking up Alyssa she began throwing up again in her carseat. It was again your worst nightmare. I had to completely disassemble the entire car seat down to the buckles (which had to be washed in the dishwasher) and the cover (which had to be washed in the washing machine). Even afterwards the Expedition still reeked of vomit. So I Febreezed and then it smelled like Febreeze scented vomit. We almost made it through the weekend vomit free until Sunday afternoon when Alyssa was getting ready for a birthday party and started throwing up- on my bedroom carpet. Her and Anniston spent almost the entire day on opposite ends of the couch. We've gone through tons of Clorox spray and wipes. Hopefully Annistons fever will break soon and Alyssa will be able to hold something down. On a happy note, Ayden Claire has fully recovered and is great!



Where it all began...sweet little Ayden Claire feeling great now!

My Valentine

Wes and I enjoyed the luxury of a date- a for real, no expense spared date! And on Valentine's night! We totally lucked up. Did I mention it was just the 2 of us- no kiddos? Not that we don't love spending time with them but a date without them is so nice sometimes! I fall in love with my wonderful husband...and I have to time to remember how stinking sexy he is! ;) So many thanks to Jill who drove from Birmingham and my Mom who worked all day and then came over to help watch our brood. We had a wonderful meal at Olive Garden and enjoyed walking around Books A Million and Petsmart and then stopped by Mulligans for a nightcap on the way home. I love my Valentine and hope one day my girls have "Valentines" as great as their Daddy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sending lots of love and kisses on Valentine's!
Love,
The Kelleys

Anniston's Valentine

Anniston's preschool class walked to the Post Office on Wednesday and bought stamps and mailed special Valentines to their parents. We got ours yesterday.

"Happy Valentines Day From...."

"Thumbbody special
Love
Anniston"

The heart is made with her thumb prints. How sweet!

A.C.

This is one of my favorite faces in the whole world! She's been sick the past couple of days and boy have I missed this smile. Everything is right with the world when I see this girl! I love you, Ayden Claire!

"I Don't Need Your Rocking Chair"

I never rocked my babies. Gasp. I know. What kind of mother am I? The kind the didn't rock my babies. Now, I'm all for rocking babies, especially other peoples babies. I am selfish though. I stayed home with them all day and nursed them all day and by bedtime I wanted to put them to bed and not have to rock them for however long people rock babies. It hit me that I wasn't a "rocker" today as I tucked Ayden Claire in for her nap. She's so good it probably should be a sin to even tell you how easy it is to tuck her in.
Step 1- Turn her sound machine on and walk towards her bed while holding her.
Step 2- Catch her as she tries to throw herself into the baby bed. Steal a hug and kiss.
Step 3- Lay her down on her pillow and cover her up.
Step 4- Tell her "Good night"
Seriously. That's it. And not a peep until she wakes up. Same steps at bedtime too. Alyssa was about that easy. Anniston- not anywhere near that easy. She would scream for at least 10 minutes before she would lay down and go to sleep. She's always been a little strong willed. Or maybe she just wanted to be rocked.
Although I'm not a rocker, I am whole-heartily, definitely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, without question a "cuddler". I cuddle my kids all day any chance I get. I love to hold them and kiss their cheeks and stroke their hair. "Cuddling" is one of our family's favorite past times. Alyssa and Anniston will even say, "I want to cuddle with you, Mommy (or Daddy)." My love language is definitely "touch". I guess I know they are only "cuddle-able" for so long and I know I will miss just getting to hold them. Nothing brightens my day more than a hug from one of my girls- or their daddy. So, I apologize now, girls, for not rocking you as babies. I hope you will remember all the hugs and leg rubs you got as little girls though and I hope you remember the love you felt while I held you. I hope that you felt safe and unconditionally loved...and I hope you know that I was probably trying to hold onto whatever age/stage you were at that time. If you would ever like me to make up the rocking thing to you though, I'd be glad to.

The Curls Keep Coming

Alyssa and Anniston's new favorite thing is to get their hair rolled before bed. Maybe its a desperate attempt to stay up later, I don't know. Either way, its really cute the next day and almost worth the time it takes to roll Alyssa's long hair and Anniston's SUPER fine hair (which is next to impossible!). Here they are!

Happy Birthday, Sista!

Saturday my baby sister turned 23- although for some reason I, at first, thought she was turning 22! I guess I am subconsciously not wanting her to be 23 because that would mean I am turning 30 in a couple of weeks.... We went to our neighbor and Anniston's best friends 4th birthday party first and then headed to Birmingham to celebrate with Jill. We met them at the Galleria and then went back to Jill and Josh's apartment before going to eat at their fave Mexican restaurant. It was yummy and we had such a good time. Even though Jill is not a big sweet eater, we picked her up a cookie cake and went back to sing and have a slice of cookie. We left about 10:00 that night and on our way back I called to tell her goodnight and wish her one last "Happy birthday" but Kendra said she was already asleep! I guess she's getting old!

Sponge Fun

Hold on to your socks...Alyssa requested that I sponge roll her hair a few nights ago! Shocker. I did and it was so cute- even when I got her from school that afternoon her hair still had some curl left. She wanted to do it again last night so we did and this time I got a picture!

Why I Should Have Stopped At Hardees

I am not a breakfast person but this morning I was especially hungry and craving a Bacon, Egg & Cheese biscuit. I debated whether to swing in Hardees drive thru right up unto the point I saw the line and how long it was. I knew I had about 4 pieces of bread left on the edge of beginning to mold and it would be more frugal to go home and do something with that. So cheese toast it was- or was supposed to be. Here's our breakfast...if you want to come over we'll share!

A Glimpse Of Heaven

Ayden Claire slept in this morning and finally I went to wake her up because it was past 9:00. She didn't immediately wake up so I went and got the camera and got a couple of pictures of my precious sleeping baby!

"Utterly"...Strange Sight

Friday morning I dropped Anniston off at Preschool like usual and then headed to Wal-Mart for my usual Friday morning grocery run. I was driving along the little two lane road like I usually do when I saw something completely out of the usual- a cow was standing on the side of the road! It was in front of an old house that had burned down and was just standing there eating grass not 6 feet from the road. I pulled over to check my eyes and make sure I wasn't going crazy! But there, right across from where I had pulled my car off the road, was this huge cow obviously out of place with cars whizzing by it. A few slowed down to gawk quickly but not wanting to hold up traffic moved on. No one ever stopped though. I just couldn't believe no one thought this was a matter that might need to be tended to besides me! I called Wes who had his dispatcher radio someone in Millbrook and let them know a cow was on the side of the road- they got quite a laugh about this I might add! Finally, the owner pulled up in a minivan and said the cow belonged to him and he would get him back home. I'm not sure how the cow wound up where he did or if he made it back home but it was an interesting way to start the day. When I got back home Wes, being the funny man that he is, had sent me this email:

Ma'am,

Tank u fer makin sure i gots back into my pasture its nice getin to go tri sum grass on tha uther side of da fince i hop u wutn afinded bout me poopin in frunt of ya dat new grass upset my tummi i was so happy to c uncle jebs van i ran fer joy culdnt remember how to git bak inta my yard pleaz takmy pictur as a sign of my tanks


you brought a smil to ma fac luv,

da cow u watchd dis mornin

Which of course cracked me up! But I told him I think the cow would have said "UTTER side of the fence"- ha ha!

18 Wieners?

Yesterday was the last day of hunting season and being the good wife I am, I loaded up with Wes and all three girls and headed to my dads hunting camp 2 hours away at 3 am. (I told you I was a good wife!) I'll post about hunting season and the girls first experiences at the deer processor later! But on our way home, we detoured to go pick up some deer meat that we thought was ready in Demopolis. Well, it wasn't ready and we were in Demopolis and hungry. The McDonald's was terrifying in all sorts of ways and the cleanest thing we saw was a Jacks so we headed there. Then I spotted a Guthrie's and suggested that instead. Everyone was game for chicken and fries so we all agreed and whipped in. We were sitting at our little booth finishing up when that old song- maybe by the group Alabama, I'm not sure?- "18 Wheeler" came on. You know the one..."roll on highway, roll on 18 wheeler til I get back home...." or something along those lines. I could tell Alyssa was listening to it and when it went off she got this funny/curious look on her sleepy little face. She giggled and said, "That song was funny. It kept saying 18 wieners." We, of course busted into laughter at her! Then I tried to convince her that they weren't saying "Wieners" but she wasn't believing me! She just knew she'd heard correctly, and besides, a song about 18 Wieners is way funnier that one about wheels, right?