Busy!

This morning I'll have to think fast and type faster. I have 3 fussy, coughing, snotty, babies wondering ("exploring their environment") and multiple opportunities for breakdowns.

Since I started babysitting our little friend, things have become slightly more busy, but in a different way. The kids play together for a few minutes at a time allowing me to pick up the house or do a load of laundry. I'm really enjoying the structure of our day and watching them play.

Carey is still on trauma. This week he works 5:30 a.m. to about 6:30 p.m. and is at home at night. I don't mind this week at all! As far as I can tell, there's a common trauma theme:
1. Drunk old men fall.
2. Stab and gunshot wounds.
3. Little old ladies fall.

From my observations I've learned the importance of exercise (you're totally surprised I threw that one in there, huh?) and that it is equally important to stay away from drunk old men and out of the downtown area after dark.

It's an appropriate time to mention that our Christmas decorations are officially up because from this moment on, they will continue to come down. The tree was beautiful for the hour that the kids were sleeping that day and since then, ornaments come off one by one. I've accepted that by the end of the week are tree will be naked from the waist down. It's probably best that I just replace those ornaments with edible ones (with veggies!) and maybe I'll benefit from their disappointing attempts to eat everything.

Last week we moved the kids into the same bedroom upstairs. They both sleep in Hayes' bedroom and we turned Aisley's room into another playroom. Carey put up his drum set and xylophone and we'll soon have a keyboard. It's been awesome to have a playroom upstairs for smaller toys and be able to just shut the door and play! (I stay in with them, of course!) Downstairs we have the outdoor toys and large muscle group activities. We brought in the playhouse, slide, bikes, and scooters. I'm so blessed to have such a kid-friendly house.

I just realized the sudden silence and went to inspect the situation. The two youngest were joyfully splashing in the dog water. :0

We're hanging in there!

This is just a little sneak peak of what's to come. I still can't find the usb cord for my camera (have any of you seen it?) so I'll have to take my camera in and have the pictures downloaded to cds.

It's been a rough few days here at the Watson house. My family lost 2 loved ones on Sunday and we're all trying to make sense of everything. My heart breaks because I'm so far away and can't be there to help them. I know that your prayers will be greatly appreciated as they seek peace and understanding.

Carey is beginning nights on the trauma service (eek!) and is a little nervous about adjusting to this exhausting and fast-paced rotation. I'll do my best to keep up with trauma updates.

I am babysitting 3 days a week and having an extra 18 month old is keeping me on my toes. I'm actually able to get more done as AGW and HLW are preoccupied with their new playmate. But I earn my money with that extra mouth to feed and diapers to change. So far we all 3 really enjoy our new little companion and would love to keep her around for a while.

Fall has brought back my interest in rearranging and repurposing. I'm in the process of building cornice boards for the windows, changing an old radio cabinet into a pantry, and hope to begin a dollhouse from Santa very soon. I'm also excited to get back to a consistent running program tomorrow. Tis the season, after all.

AGW sat through a sermon with her Daddy a few weeks ago and heard lots about marriage and relationships. Since then she has been dressing me up to get married to her, deciding whether to marry Daddy or Hayes, and explaining to me about the baby growing in her tummy. I'm thinking this may also have something to do with her Uncles Monte and Cody getting married and Aunt Crystal having a growing tummy. ;)

Hayes Lane is getting FOUR teeth on top! They finally broke through and explain the 4 a.m. cuddle sessions lately. Poor guy. I caught him yesterday attempting to "jump" and you can imagine how that ended. He waddles everywhere he goes these days but still has to pull up to standing. I'm sure he'll figure out how to stand from sitting in a day or two and my little baby will no longer need his Momma to help him at all. How did this year pass so quickly? Where did my little ones go?

Random Rambling

I just dropped Aisley off at school (that seems to be going a little better even though she is still very hesitant) and put Hayes down for a nap. The house is actually quiet and I've given myself a few minutes to play. There's a battle going on between Pintrest, (www.pintrest.com or clean on the button to the left to follow me) the dishes, laundry, and working out. I think I'll reward myself with 15 minutes of play for every 15 minutes of work. We'll see how much I actually get done. :)

Wednesdays we go to Christian Moms Group at church. I have to admit that I've never actually done the Bible study even though I always buy the book and have good intentions. I figure that I'll have a great library going when I decide I can get back to reading.

When we pulled into the church parking lot this morning, AGW said "I have a baby growing in my tummy". This really surprised me. My response was "Really? Wow!....(how do I handle this?) That's great! Kinda like Hayes grew in my tummy, huh? Well, you have to eat really good and finish your veggies to grow a healthy baby". Silence. I could tell by her face that she couldn't even fathom how veggies got thrown into this conversation. Then she continued to tell me that her baby was a boy. His name is Carly (sorry Shel, but at least she loves your baby enough to name her baby the same!) and that she was going to be his sister. Such a cute conversation. Such a funny little girl.

Today's topic was about Spiritual Gifts. I was fortunate enough to take a class at church this summer where I learned that my spiritual gifts are compassion, hospitality, and faith. If you haven't taken a spiritual gifts assessment, I recommend it. I haven't taken this assessment, but just to give you somewhere to start http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1 . Maybe this will give some direction in how God wants to use you or give purpose to your life. Compassion wasn't a surprise to me. I never could watch those shows or movies where people got hurt because I felt badly for them. Even though they did it to themselves. You all know how I have a heart for rescuing animals. I also have a strong passion for people with or who have survived cancer. I'll get into that some other time.

Anyway...I sent several pictures to be uploaded to the blog last night because I really wanted to keep my promise of updating everything. I found out that none of them went through though. I'll have to spend some time figuring that out soon. I've also started a post dedicated to the 1st year of surgical residency. Maybe I can finish that up after 15 minutes of work. Do you see how I'm keeping my promise to communicate better? I'm really trying this time ;)

AGW updates

Here's what you should know about AGW: She absolutely adores Eba (Emma), our little black dog. Everything that comes out of her mouth is Eba this and Eba that. She blames things on Eba, gets mad at Eba, chases Eba with her baby stroller, and could care less about saying hi to Mom or Dad in the morning until after she waves hello to Eba. AGW is not handling cold weather very well. Actually, she doesn't care a thing about it being cold, she just hates being inside. She runs to the door yelling "un dere?" and won't listen to my excuses for staying in. There have been several days that I've bundled her up and pulled her wagon up and down the block in this near freezing weather. I'm going to have to toughen up before we move north. I guess I'm the one not handling cold weather very well.

For the longest time, AGW could only shake her head "no". Even if she meant yes, you couldn't get the appropriate head nod to go along with the answer. In the last few days she discovered "uh huh" and a whole new version of the head nod. It's more like a total body nod. Her nod is more like several bows, jumping up and down, and head-banging all in one. It's a total body "uh huh!" Maybe one day she'll grasp that motor development skill, but for now, I love the total body enthusiasm!

I do believe we are entering the terrible twos. I do not believe I'm handling them appropriately.What do you do? She repeatedly defies me and I can see in her face that she is pushing me and feels no guilt, but then again, does she actually understand the situation? Who knows. I'm reading the books and studying the quackery. All I can do now is pray. Maybe the terrible twos aren't about the toddler at all. Maybe they are  another hands-on teaching method of God. Curriculum: unconditional love, patience, and how to not take it out on your spouse, dog, ect. Thank God there is a break before the teenage years, right? Right???