This is what Sophie's hair looks like if you straighten it. Yes, I straightened a 19 month old's hair, but I've been dying to see what she'd look like if she didn't have her curly hair. I must say, I don't like it. It's not her. It goes with her personality. It's her trademark. Everyone knows her by her curls. If she had straight hair we definitely would have had it cut by now. I adore a cute little bob haircut on little girls, with a bow of course. But I think for now I'll keep the curls. I mean seriously, who wants to give up that?

We bought a new laptop and it came in this afternoon. I am soooooo excited b/c now I will be able to do things much, much faster than before. And hopefully make some changes to the blog that I haven't been able to do yet. I opened it as soon as it came in and plugged it in. Brandon is still asleep, but I think he's going to wake up pretty quickly once he sees what's in the kitchen. I just hope he lets me use it. I think he's going to be a little protective of it at first. We are officially a Mac only family now. Mine from college is 10 years old, but not up to speed and Brandon's that he got when he started med school is a PC that well, let's just say we can use it to level a wobbly table now. He said the kids could use it later to play games on. We'll see. I think I'm going to wake him up now. I can't wait any longer! Later!

"You better stop crying or I'm going to take Daddy home!"

That's what I had to tell Christopher on the way to MDO this morning b/c he wouldn't stop crying and Brandon was sweet enough to ride with us, even though he'd been up all night and could have gone straight to bed. We thought it would make the tired little man happy, but when he found out he wasn't going to play with William at William's house he lost it. He's been up a little later the last few nights and still waking up early, so I know he's just really tired. And all I could do was laugh when Brandon turned around and said, "Just go to sleep and take a nap on the way to school Christopher!" You would think after 3 1/2 years my adorable husband would learn that children do not sleep on command, but he still tries it anyway. Then he suggested we just keep him at home and put him to bed. I told him there was no way I was doing that after I've already paid for someone else to watch him for 4 1/2 hours. Oh, and there's the fact that he wouldn't go to bed until he would have come home anyway, so he was going whether he liked it or not. My husband agreed.

Not much has happened around here. I've been busy trying to entertain the kids either at home or away so Brandon can try to sleep. I am really ready to have this week over so he can be on a regular schedule and I'll have my husband back. I miss him! I'm glad we just got these 6 weeks over with, but we've barely talked to each other and I'm getting really used to sleeping in the bed alone. Both of which I think are bad things when you are married. Thankfully he has this weekend off, but there is a patient that is due any day and he just has a feeling she will go into labor and he'll end up working. I pray (selfishly) that God spares him a couple days with his family and friends that are coming to visit. I've also been busy getting the name tags together for our first MOPS meeting next week. Have I mentioned how much I love MOPS? If you have a group in your area I highly suggest joining. It has been so much fun! I'm looking forward to the new year and being a part of making it happen. I need to run and take care of a few more things, but I thought I'd end on an adorable story about Christopher and Brandon. The kids and I were outside playing in the backyard the other morning when Brandon got home from work. They wanted to swing, so we set them up and began pushing. Brandon would catch Christopher as he was swinging forward and hold him and then say, "Are you ready for anything?" and suddenly drop him to swing backwards with no warning. Christopher loved it and, of course, after I'd run inside to grab something I miss the best part. Christopher tells Brandon after a couple times of playing this game, "Daddy, I want you to hold me and tell me I'm ready for anything." Doesn't that just melt your heart???? It does mine every time I think about it, which is often. They have no idea what they are saying sometimes and gets the words a little mixed up every now and then, but it hits you in a way only a parent can understand and really makes you think. I should start asking my heavenly Daddy that more often. It would make my job down here a lot easier if I did!

Summer, that is. I'm 100%, totally, completely, with all my being, over summer. The mosquitos were bad, now the gnats have taken over. So much so that it will send you running into the house flapping your arms around like a crazy bird screaming "Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!" the whole way. (Tiffany and I did that yesterday.) I'm tired of feeling like I need 2 showers a day, and I usually only take them at night, but lately I've felt like I needed an extra one just to get to the evening without smelling! The kids are disgusting and covered in sweaty dirt. Poor Brick isn't getting much exercise b/c neither one of us want to brave the heat for a stroll. I agreed to walk with the kids over to the forklift and wood chopper that were working down the street, but I knew it would be hot. It was 11:00 in the morning after all. Sophie wants to ride on her little 4 wheeled Radio Flyer too, making you go e x t r a slow! It's cute to watch, but sweaty too. We finally make it and I convince her (kicking and screaming) to get into the jogger and enjoy the ride. She and Christopher suck down their drinks faster than ever and off we go to finish our outing. The workers were taking a break (thankfully!) and so we decided to just go around the corner and head home. Wasn't so "around the corner" like I thought. I told you it'd be a while since we gone on a real walk. I was sweating between my fingers. Have you ever done that? It's gross. You know you are sweating all over, but it's just not pouring down your body yet, just kind of sticking everywhere. We finally get home, and I'm drenched. And starving!!!! We eat lunch and now they are back playing outside again. I'm just hoping I can get them in the shower before naps without waking up Brandon too much. Hope you are having a cooler day than we are. I'm going to rinse off.

Last night at around 2:15 am, Brandon's sister delivered her third little girl. Well, if you call 8.2 lbs and 20 1/2 inches little. Face up. Naturally. I would call that 12 pounds personally, but she is my hero for following through with her plan to deliver naturally. I know other women deliver naturally, but if you have ever had a baby come into the world looking up (I have) then you get 10 gold stars from me if you do it without any meds at all. Her doctor told her she had never delivered a baby that size naturally before. The last I heard the name is Campbell, but they can't ever decide on the final name until after the baby is born. I'll keep you posted. Congratulations Ame, Drexel, Cameron and Camille!!! We can't wait to meet you baby girl #3!!


(Big sister Cameron holding little Campbell.)

Ok, my last post today, I promise! Everyone is napping and I wanted to catch up on everything b/c it's about to get busy around here when they wake up. I'm trying to get used to the kids' new MDO schedule and it's hard! Anyway, these are the last photos we have from Brandon's Canon SLR camera we purchased 3 years. They are of Christopher and Brick digging out in his "digging pile" in the backyard. You'll have to excuse the outfit he is wearing, I think he slept in it the night before and I'm sorry if you have a problem with it.