Etsy

Help! I need serious help!

I look at stuff on Etsy all the time and want to buy things. However, I CANNOT figure out how!

Please someone help me...I need an instruction manual...a very child-like instruction manual (maybe even one with pictures!)

If you know how to do this, email me. bwilli4@yahoo.com

Thanks for your help...and know I will probably have tons of questions. I always do (just ask my husband...or my mom...or...you get the picture!)

Um...What are you selling?

On the way home the other night, I saw this sign...






Only in Arkansas....

Elmo Show

Tuesday evening, Hannah and I headed to Ft. Smith to watch Elmo's Green Thumb. She was so excited...it felt like we were NEVER going to get there.

We made it and got to our seats. While we were passing time (we got there 45 minutes early), we took some pictures. The one below is the only one of us that turned out decent.

Finally the show started. Hannah climbed up on my lap and was in awe. It was a great show and she loved it all. After it was over, she asked me, "Was Elmo too tired? He had to go home and go night-night like me, right Mommy?" SO CUTE!

We had a great time together. It wasn't over until 9 and we still had the drive home. Hannah and I were talking and singing up a storm. She was telling me about how much she LOVES Taylor Swift and fell asleep mid-sentence! I love this girl!

1 Month Old

Today, Catherine is one month old! She is so adorable and other than the small temper tantrums that she throws (mainly when no one is holding her), she is a good baby.

Catherine is sleeping 5-6 hours at a time at night. She eats 4 oz every 4 hours during the day. Catherine has recently started cooing and becoming very aware of her surrounds (and her noisy sisters). She laughs ALOT in her sleep...we can't wait for her to do it when she's awake.

One of her two bottom teeth broke through the skin this weekend and the second is sure to follow! We love her very much and her sisters just dote on her! We are so blessed!

Temper Temper

Catherine has quite the little temper! She's gonna be a fire cracker!

While Emma is at school...

Hannah and I are getting our very first "one-on-one" play time, with a few interruptions from Miss Catherine. Of course, we let her play too.

It so fun to interact with Hannah and see what she is like with our her big sister to follow around all day. We do miss Emma very much. Every day when Hannah gets up from nap, she says "Let's go get Emma!" She asks like 100 times until it's time to leave.



We have been playing babies and taking our babies Target. It's been a fun day. I even snapped some pictures of Hannah being a good big sister. She loves being the oldest one around during the day and being my helper!

I love this big ball of energy! (Enjoy her crazy smile...this is all I get!)

Big Fun!

I decided before Catherine came that I need to make sure to spend some "one-on-one" time doing something super fun with each of the other girls. (since Catherine consumes so much of my attention on a typical day).

Hannah's day is next Tuesday. We are going to see Elmo's Green Thumb! She is super excited. (Emma's day isn't until October...so stay tuned!)Travis is going to stay home with the other two while Hannah and I go and spend some good QT together. I am so excited...we are going to have blast! (TONS OF PICTURES NEXT WEEK!)

IT.WAS.AWESOME!

Finally FINALLY...I got to go pick up Emma at school today.

She had a GREAT time! She said she only cried for a minute after I left and then she showed her teacher how she could write her name and draw a heart. This is what I heard when she got in the car:

"IT.WAS.AWESOME! The playground in huge and my friends from Coleman's, Abby and Cole, are at this school and we went to music class and it was pink and the music teachers name was Mrs. Tears and she has a pink cage. In the cage are rats and next week we get to hold them and I didn't sleep during rest time because the music was up too loud. And, Mommy, everytime I looked out the window today, I thought about you." (melt.my.heart) "I love school and I am going to go back tomorrow and we are going to be in a different class tomorrow for activities and next week we will have our regular teacher and I ate all my lunch and it was SO good. Can I take a juice box AND a water bottle tomorrow? Guess what else? I didn't even go to the office today! YAY ME!"

Yeah...that was how it went...I didn't get a word in. Needless to say, she loved it and can't wait to go back tomorrow. After she told me everything, she called her Daddy at work and then Honey (while she ate her snack).

Hannah missed her so much today. (I will post about our day later...it was a messy one!) She has followed Emma to every room she went to today...even the bathroom! (I think Emma secretly missed her too!). As I type this they are playing "Coffee Baby" (no idea what that is...). Catherine is, of course, asleep...

I love these girls!

Emma's First Day (Morning Post)

This morning was such an exciting morning in our house!

EMMA'S FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!

This is the first time since Catherine was born that I HAD to be somewhere with three kids in the morning...

We got up. Travis fixed a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast. He also made her lunch. I got the girls all dressed. Then, we waited...we were ready to go a FULL hour before it was time! I guess tomorrow we can sleep in a little!

Emma was so excited and talking up a storm before we got in the car. Hannah was excited for her sister. Catherine...well...she slept through the fun!



Once we got in the car and headed to school, it was a different story! Emma was quiet. We were talking to her with only one word responses. I knew then...she was nervous!

We pulled up to the school and found a parking spot. Travis and the little girls stayed in the car while I took Emma in. As we were walking in, she said "My tummy hurts, Mommy". I asked her if it was because she was nervous and she said yes.

We got to her classroom and found out that her friend, Abby, from Preschool was in her class. I thought, "Good, someone to calm her down." But, as we got further into the room, I realized there were 5 girls in there and they were all crying.

Emma was tough at first, but when I went to leave, her eyes teared up and the head dropped. I told her it was going to be fun and I had to leave. She whispered "Ok" and gave me a hug and a kiss.




I walked out...in tears of course. But, she will be fine. I can't wait to pick her up and hear all about her day this afternoon! I will post all about it!

Ramblings of "That Mom"

Clothes are laid out. Hair is dried. Lunchbox is ready for lunch to be packed. Girls are snuggled in bed.

Why am I still wide awake!?

I know Emma will be great. She has never had a problem being away from us and other than taking about 3 minutes to come out of her shell, she is very social and well-behaved. So, why am I worried?

Yesterday, taking her to school was great. The classrooms are cute and all the teachers are so kind. But, she is SO small compared to other kids. I kept seeing these older kids running around the building and I just feel like she is still too little.

I never EVER thought I would be "that mom". You know the mom I am talking about. The one that has a hard time letting go. But, it seems that I am "that mom". I am "that mom" who keeps reminiscing back to when her kindergartner was a baby. I am "that mom" that will probably cry when I drop her off. I am "that mom" who will count down the minutes until time to go get her.

For those of you that know me, you know that I am just not a really emotional person. I keep a lot inside and try to stay "tough". When I am worried, I make jokes. (I have been cracking jokes with Ems all day about her first day of school) But, inside I think tomorrow is going to break me!

I am going to be the mom that takes my daughters picture before we leave, outside of the school, inside of the classroom, etc. I will also be the mom that sticks around until they say "Time to go!" I am sure Emma is going to be ready for me to get out of her hair and let her play with her new friends in her new kindergarten life.

I will try to hold back the tears tomorrow morning. They will be tears of joy, tears of pride and a little bit of worry. I know Emma will be great. I know Emma will be able to handle it, but will I?

Kindergarten Orientation

Last night, Emma had Kindergarten Orientation at her school.

The classrooms are super cute and she was so excited to be there. She was a little timid at first, but then she discovered that several of her friends from Coleman's were at the same school as she was. That made her feel a little more at ease.

Tomorrow will be her first day. She will go Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for "activities" (testing). Then, Monday, is the first offical day in her classroom with her teacher.

Below are a couple of pictures of her (and her new hair cut). There is also one with Hannah. Please ignore the grape juice all over her face!

Road Trip!

Today, Travis, the girls and I decided it would be a good day to go to Bass Pro Shops in Springfield. So, this morning, we got up, got ready, fed Catherine and headed north. (But, not before Hannah was snapped in this shot!)

We had so much fun! Travis, Emma and Hannah had a ball looking at the HUGE Alligator Gar. Even Catherine was impressed enough when we first got there to stay awake for about an hour. When we made it to the bear, Ems and Han were NOT going near it. Catherine...not impressed!

We went through the whole store and ate at the restaurant upstairs for their brunch. It was wonderful. I think Emma and Hannah were most impressed with the chocolate fountain to make chocolate covered strawberries.

It was a little disappointing though. Most of the exhibits were under remodel. But, it was a good way to end the summer. (those of you who know Trav know he was in heaven!)

Tomorrow night we go to Emma's Open House and Wednesday is the first day of school!

Bannana Boat

Cassidie took this picture of Hannah and I at Kelsie's birthday party and edited it for us. I LOVE IT!

Do I have to???

Do I really REALLY have to take my baby (Emma) to Kindergarten next week?

Today, we went to buy all of Emma's school supplies. As I was reading the list of things that we needed to get, I almost broke down crying in the crayon aisle.

When did she go from this....

To this?

One week from today, I will be sitting at home counting down the minutes until I can go pick her up and hear all about her wonderful first day of Kindergarten.

She is SO excited. The closer it gets the harder it is for me to fight the tears...is it really time already?

Busy Weekend

This weekend was a busy one for us!

Saturday, the girls and I went to Lauren's wedding shower. We had a great time and managed to keep it pretty well together during the whole thing. Catherine got a little fussy when she was hungry, but don't we all! :) We had a blast and Lauren got tons of great stuff. (As I was keeping up with three little monkeys, I didn't take any pics. Sorry!)

Saturday night, Travis and I went to a Booze and Screws party for Lauren and Ben. It was at On the Rocks on Dickson. My mom came up and kept the girls so we could enjoy our night out. We left the house about 6:30, went to dinner and then to the party. We stayed until 9:30! I could hardly believe we made it that long.

When we got home, Emma and Hannah were sleeping in our bed. Catherine was sleeping on the couch as she had to eat again at 10:00. My mom was sitting with her and had my house all picked up from the tornadoes (Emma and Hannah). Travis and I sat up for a little while talking to my mom. Apparently, we were disturbing Miss Catherine. We looked over at her and this is what we saw: WHAT A DRAMA QUEEN!


Sunday, Sarah VanBebber threw a Sip n' See for Catherine and I. It was tons of fun. She did such a great job. There was delicious food, petifores and coffee punch. It was so good to get to see everyone. Sarah Fries brought Owen and Meredith brought Reece. Those two boys are quite the pair! They are both such cute chunky monkeys! I didn't take any pictures (I know I know!), but luckily my mom snapped a few!

Monday, Catherine's "stump" FINALLY fell off. She got to have a real bath. We were all so excited. It was such a family affair. You can see below how incredibly impressed she was!

Today, we did absolutely NOTHING! We played tea party, restaurant, pet shop and took a few much needed naps! It was a good day!

Two Weeks

Catherine is two weeks old today.

She had her two week check up with Dr. Lovell and everything looks great. She had a heart murmur when she was born and that is all cleared up. Everything looks just as it should!

She weighs 7'9 (back to her birth weight) and it 20 1/2 inches long. Catherine is eating 4 oz every 4 hours. She is a sleeping machine, but has started to stay awake for longer periods of time during the day.

Her sisters still adore her. Emma seems to be kind of losing interest because "All she does is eat and sleep, Mom!".

Hannah, on the other hand, loves being a big sister. She wants to go get things and "help" all the time!

We are so blessed to have such a healthy baby, not to mention two amazing healthy older sisters.





(Now, I have been shunned for the lack of pictures, so I am made up for it in this post.)