They sure were opposite

My Grandpa Glover passed away on Thursday. He would be 96 years old this October. I remember when I was younger being in grade school and my cousins and I would always talk about the day our grandparents were no longer here. Although I only had 18 kids in my entire class, two of them were my cousins. We were always worried we would get bad news at school that something had happened to Grandma or Grandpa. I know that sounds strange but the Glover family really was a close family and a large family. My Grandmother had 10 kids. She was an amazing woman, she passed away a few years ago. She was itty-bitty, too:). I remember telling her not too many years ago that I thought she was the cutest little old lady I had ever seen and she said, "I bet when you get to be my age, you'll be the cutest little old lady, too". My Grandpa was a rugged old man. He lost his father at a young age and from what I've been told, he didn't have a nurturing mother. He had a short temper and showed it often. While my Grandmother had a sweet, submissive, servant's heart, my Grandfather had a hardworking spirit. He would lose his temper a lot with my Grandma over silly things and she would always just quietly say, "Now, Herman" with a sweet smile on her face. I'm sure there were rare, rare moments when she would get frustrated but I never saw them. And although Grandpa would lose his cool often, he had such a fun personality. Always saying silly things to get a laugh. Growing up I knew my Grandpa was not a christian and he didn't really care much about the church. Since my Grandma didn't drive (who had time with 10 kids), he would drive her to church and sit in the parking lot waiting on her to take her home. That seems stubborn and hard headed but to me it shows how much he really did love my Grandma. A year ago, my Grandpa wanted to go to church. It was very unexpected. He supposedly gave his heart to Christ. I say supposedly because who really knows someone else's heart. I'm not sure that there has been a change in him over this past year, but my hope is that he is reunited with my Grandmother now. She soooo longed for him to come to know her Savior. We talked about it often. I would share prayer request with her about people I loved who were not saved. She would always assure me she would be praying for them and always requested I pray for her husband. I loved them both very dearly and hope to see them again someday. I am especially thankful to God for giving me my Grandmother. She is the person I look up to the most.

1 month old today....

Piper is one month old today:). She went for her one month weight check and weighs 10 lbs and 6 oz. She's a pretty healthy little girl. She's not quite as big as the boys were at this point. Andrew was almost 13 lbs at his 1 month visit. Isn't that crazy?? Especially with having little ole me as mommy. I always feel like I give birth to a baby that's a few months old instead of a newborn.
Piper is still doing really well, not very fussy at all. I'm so thankful for this. We're really, really enjoying her.
A little randomness...
Yesterday I checked the mail and there was a Victoria Secret catalog in there. I usually just throw the junk mail away when I bring it in but was in a hurry and set all of it on the table. Eventually Andrew got all of it down and a few minutes later I hear him kissing something. I look and he had the catalog and I said, "what are you doing?" he said, "I just love these pretty girls". WHAT?? isn't that crazy? I'll make sure and throw the junk mail away next time.

It was a good one....

The kiddos and I had a pretty good day today. Piper usually sleeps pretty well but last night wasn't so great so I was extra sleepy and knew that I needed to have planned activities to make it through the day. The boys always do so much better when we follow some sort of schedule of activities. We watched a few episodes of Tom and Jerry (their favorite) and then did some of Andrew's school work. Mrs. Mindy has been home schooling him over the past year and we are trying to continue his studies. I gave Parker some colored chips to sort while Andrew and I worked on reading his "i book". They both did really well. After school, we cooked lunch. They were really excited about this. We made baked ziti. I decided to chop up some squash to add to it because I figured they wouldn't be able to taste it too much. We all sat on the floor in the kitchen and I let them help me pour the noodles in the water and watch me cut up the squash. I cooked the meat last night so I wouldn't have to do that today. I got them a stool and chair and put it by the stove, but not to close:). They had so much fun cooking. I also had them set the table up like we were at a restaurant. It was sweet:). Parker got the forks and napkins and Andrew put away the school supplies. Andrew also made a menu of what we were having. They had the best time and ate sooo much. The best part was that we had baked ziti for dinner, too, so I didn't have to cook tonight! I'm sooo thankful for a good, fun day. I'm always in awe of my Grandma Glover who had 10 kids. How did she do it?

Worst mommy ever...

I sadly accept my award as worst mommy ever:(. This morning I was attempting to cut sissy's fingernails and gave her her first boo boo (forgive the blurry pic, it's from my phone). I felt horrible and my family wasn't too forgiving. Parker kept asking, "why did you cut her finger?" Bless her heart! It really bled a lot. To make matters worse, I didn't have any cute girly bandaids. You know, like strawberry shortcake, hello kitty, etc. She was stuck wearing a Batman bandaid. I'm sorry Piper:(!!

We've been bitten....

by the stomach bug:(. JuJu (Andrew) started throwing up this morning around 7:00 and so far it's continued all day. Bless his soul. I called mom and had her come get Parker so hopefully he can avoid getting it. Speaking of Parker... last night Cam took him to Wal-Mart and he looked up and said, "daddy, you're not cool". Cam said, "What? I'm not cool..." and Parker said, "no, because you're not a rockstar". HaHa... where did our 3 yr old learn something like that?? And by the way.. Cameron is a legendary rock star. Does Parker not recall the commercial we made for iQuiz?? Cameron had some MAD* beeboping going on (*slang word stolen from Randy Jackson of AI).

The day you were born...

Just so I don't forget, I thought I'd jot down a few things about the day my kids were born...

Piper Jane- A good friend and I were planning on being in the hospital at the same time. You see... we were big American Idol fans and we wanted to have an AI watch party. The doc scheduled for her to have her wee one on Tuesday (28th) and she was going to induce me on Wednesday (29th). Well, you had other plans. I had a horrible sinus infection or strep throat or something yucky and felt awful so I had to call in sick to work on Monday. I began having pretty steady contractions that day but they were far apart. I took it easy because I was hoping to avoid going to the hospital so sick. Later that evening my contractions only got closer and closer together and I knew you were soon to arrive. Your daddy and I went to bed that night but I never went to sleep because I knew we'd have to leave soon for the hospital. Around midnight, I told daddy that I thought we should go ahead and call Grandmommy and ask her to come and watch the boys so we could go to the hospital (Your daddy was half asleep and said, "are you sure you can't wait?" - I forgave him). When we arrived, they said I had only dilated to a 1 and were going to keep me for a while to see if we would stay or not. We were pleasantly surprised that one of our good friends, Lisa, was on duty that night and was our nurse. We waited for a couple of hours and as the contractions got harder, I realized I was having back labor once again:(. I was in a lot of pain and you actually seemed to be having a little trouble. You were not moving as much as they would've liked so they moved us to a room. I couldn't get an epidural for a while because they were wanting to watch you a little closer. They did, however, give me demerol which helped me rest between contractions. The next time they checked, I had dilated to a 4. I finally got my epidural a little after 4:00 am. I was very, very thankful. I was still only dilated for a 4 a little before 7:00 am but soon after my water broke and I fully dilated within minutes. We had you at 7:19 that morning. We were sooo excited to see you. You were so precious and sweet. You barely made a sound the whole time we were in the hospital. Your brothers came to visit not long after you arrived and they loved you instantly. Andrew woke up before we left for the hospital because he was sick and as we were leaving he said, "Mom, will you call after you see Piper and tell me what she looks like:)". We were all excited about your arrival, it was a beautiful day! (Birth date - April 29, 2008, Due date - May 7, 2008)

Parker Isaac - My dear sweetie, you were the easiest delivery between the three of you. Since I had such a hard delivery with Andrew, the doc decided to induce so we knew your birthday would be February 17, 2005 (your due date was the 23rd). You were also our biggest baby 8 lb 13 oz. We also didn't find out if you were a boy or girl which was extra exciting! We got to the hospital early that morning to be induced and it all went pretty fast because I was already dilated to a 3. I only pushed for about 10 minutes and there you were. Poor daddy came close to passing out... he had to sit down for a while. He was really excited about having another boy. Andrew came to visit you and was super excited about getting a little brother and best friend. Andrew was kind of the reason you got the name Parker. He loved Spiderman and while your daddy and I were out watching Spiderman 2, I heard Spiderman's name Peter Parker and thought how fun would it be to name Andrew's little brother after Spiderman:). If you had been a girl, your name would've been Kori Grace.

Andrew Reagan - Your daddy and I were only married for 6 months when we became pregnant with you. You were an immediate blessing because I was told for years that I wouldn't be able to have children because of my endometriosis. Your due date was Sept 6, 2003 and you were born Sept 2. I was having contractions the day before, which happened to be labor day. We went to the hospital but they sent us home because they said it may have been false labor. They gave me a sleeping pill and said if I could sleep through the contractions then it was false labor. Well, there was no way I was sleeping through those contractions. It was horrible back labor. We didn't sleep at all that night and I was sooo exhausted and tired b/c I had taken a sleeping pill:(. We finally went back to the hospital at 4:00 that morning and I had dilated to a 4. I was able to get my epidural at about 6:00 that morning. I was so hungry! The nurses kept laughing because I kept telling them I needed to eat, my blood sugar was sooo bad. I was also very sick, I threw up over and over again:(. It was a really, really hard delivery. I pushed for a little over 2 hours and you were finally born a little after 11:00 am. You weighed 8lb and 10oz. The doc had told me he thought you'd be about 6.5 lbs or so... boy was he wrong. I had a long recovery ahead, too. I had a 4th degree episiotomy and had to stay in the hospital for 3 days, they actually wanted me to stay another day but we were eager to go home. I also cracked my tail bone from pushing so much. I was so proud of your daddy for not passing out. It was sooo fun to bring you home. It's also been sooo fun watching you become a big brother.

Yummy Meal, Chiropractor and a Frigid Swim

Jennifer and David, who just had a sweet baby themselves, offered to make us dinner. It was delicious!!! David is the Grill King! They left it in the fridge at church for us and when we got it and opened it, it was a feast. We had grilled chicken, grilled veggies, grilled corn on the cob and baked potatoes. It was delicious and the best part is there was so much, we have leftovers!!! THANK YOU guys sooo much!
Today I went to the chiropractor and took Piper with me to be adjusted. I have a fabulous chiropractor and I spoke to them before having Piper about bringing her in and they said they do infant adjustments often. Piper LOVED it! It was very gentle and a lot of vibration type movements and it put her right to sleep. The doc said she had a lot of restriction in the upper/mid sections of her back. I'm going to take her back in about a month or so.
It was nice and warm outside today, wish I could say the same for the pool.... BRRRRRRRR..... the water was sooo cold, 68 degrees to be exact. I swam about 15 minutes or so but it was super exciting to get to swim!!

Knock on Wood...

THANK you to everyone who has been praying for sweet Piper. She's had a much better last few days!!! She has a couple of fussy periods each day but it's NOTHING compared to what the boys were like. She really seems to just be fussy when she's hungry, sleepy or has a little gas. I'm sooo excited that she's doing better and just hope that it continues!! Also, I totally second what Jennifer has said about the book The 90 Minute Baby Sleep Program. I've noticed after reading some of the book (I haven't had time to read it all b/c for some reason the boys don't think it makes a good night-night book:), that when Piper is awake it's usually for 90 minutes. Today I decided to keep track of the time better and sure enough every time Piper was awake she was awake for 90 minutes. Toward the end of 90 minutes her eyes were really heavy and she got a little fussy so I swaddled her and put her in her crib and she slept so well. It's been sooo much better the last few days. I'm still totally sleep deprived because one of her fussy periods is through the night. Last night she got fussy before bedtime so we didn't go to sleep until after 1:00 am and then Parker woke up before 5:00 am and wanted someone to sleep with him so I went and snuggled him IN HIS TODDLER BED until 6:00 am... just in time to feed Piper again. Whew.... what a night but honestly I enjoyed snuggling my sweeties!! More sleep would be nice but these are definitely sweet times!!

What a Beautiful Day!!

It's so pretty out today. I decided to hang my diapers out to dry instead of using the dryer. Cam hung a line up right beside the pergola which is perfect because we planted 2 honeysuckle bushes on either side of the pergola so it smells soooo good. I LOVE HONEYSUCKLES! Just an update on the cloth diapering... it's going great so far. No leaks at all and it's not near as much work as one would imagine. The best part is that I don't have a stinky trash can or a yucky diaper genie!! I keep the dirty diapers in a wet bag until I wash them and that doesn't even smell because I've already rinsed the diapers. I personally don't think it's all that gross, either. I think that's probably because I'm so use to cleaning the little potty out after the boys use it, so it's not much different.
On another note.... Cam has been getting the pool ready so I'm hoping to swim next week:). I CAN'T WAIT!!! I LOVE SWIMMING! It's suppose to be upper 80's next week which is super warm for me since I've been known to begin swimming in mid 70's weather:).

Piper Jane

A friend of mine from work sent me some adorable burp rags. Aren't they sweet? Her card said, "I know they're not as practical as cloth diapers but I thought she needed something cute to spit up on":). I love the burp rags!!! I never got anything monogrammed with the boys but always wanted to. I was so, so excited to open this present. Thank you Callie!!!! Also, thanks Diana for the yummy baked ravioli! It was delicious and the boys LOVED it. Some quotes from dinner... "I didn't know this could taste so good", "Cook this for 100 days":).

I am so thankful that...

1. Today has been better than yesterday.

2. Piper slept better last night.

3. Piper hasn't been near as fussy today.

4. The boys woke up at 7:00 am instead of 6:45 (15 minutes is really a long time:).

5. Cameron will be home at 5:00 instead of at 6:30 (he had to show our rent house last night so his 1st day back to work was a really, really looooong one). 

6. My dear, dear friend Diana is bringing us dinner. I could write this one 10 times because I'm really so excited about that. It's hard to cook and clean when you're so sleep deprived. THANK YOU DIANA!!!

7. I'm late on this one but last Wednesday our nanny, Mrs. Mindy, stopped by and picked the boys up and took them to the library and to play for several hours. We were SO EXCITED AND THANKFUL FOR THIS!!!

8. Piper is sleeping right now in her bassinet.

9. The boys are playing Secret Agents outside and there's no screaming (YET).

10. We have leftovers to eat for lunch.

11. I have been much more patient today (So far).

12. We've only had our For Rent sign up for 1 day and probably had a dozen people interested and are having to choose who to rent to.

13. David Archuletta and David Cook are in the finals of American Idol:), however, I am sad it will be over next week:( what will we do on Tues and Wed nights??

I'm sure I could write a lot more but I need to get lunch going before sweet Piper wakes up. 

Also, please pray for us and Piper. The boys were sooo colicky and the past couple of days it's looking as though Piper may be showing some signs of colic (Parker started right after he was 2 wks old). I'm sooo sad about this because the baby stage was not fun at all with either of the boys. They literally cried for hours and hours at a time everyday. I know we will survive if Piper goes through the same thing but I really want to just enjoy at least one of our babies sweet baby time. 

Cloth Diaper Debut....

Today Piper is 2 weeks old AND she is now wearing cloth diapers:). They're sooooo cute, soft and padded. She looks like she's got a fluffy hiney:). We waited until her belly button was all better because we didn't want the diapers to rub against it. She's already broken one in so we got to use our diaper sprayer that's attached to the toilet.. works pretty well!!! 

Mother's Day

Here are a couple of pics from Mother's day. I had a great day... Cam took me (and Piper) out for dinner and shopping Saturday night. He let me pick out a couple of cute outfits and then he and Andrew picked some flowers for me:). The boys had tons of fun telling me "Happy Mother's Day". They told Cam "Happy mother's day", too. Today they've picked me tons of honey suckle and every time they give them to me they say "Happy Mother's Day"... I'm not sure how many days they think it'll still Mother's Day but I'm liking it:).
We went over to Cameron's mothers for lunch. Here's a pic of Grandmommy and all of her grandkids. There's also a pic of Carson holding baby Piper:). We went to my mom's for dinner but Piper never woke up and got out of the carseat, so no pics.

Perfect day for the Park

We spent a few hours today at the park and had a great time! The weather was perfect!! The boys had fun riding their bikes, catching bugs and flying kites. Piper just kind of chilled out:).
Have I mentioned how happy I am Cameron took off for 2 weeks? I'm soooo thankful. We've had so much fun enjoying the kiddos together over the past several days. He doesn't have to go back to work until Wednesday. He's the best husband and daddy ever.

He's quite the Photographer....

Andrew borrowed the camera today at the picnic and took some pictures. He was so excited.
He kept giving Parker chips so he could get a good shot of Parker eating a chip but Parker kept
eating them before Andrew could get the camera ready:)

Mommy's little girl:)

Cam took some pics tonight of Piper and I. She was so sweet the entire time. Well, unless you count the two times she pee pee'd on me. She's one week old today. We took her to the doc yesterday for a weight check and she was almost 8lb 5.5 ounces, which is about 1.5 ounces over birth weight so she's doing great! She's sleeping okay, as long as she's snuggled up to me. We co-slept with Andrew and Parker until they were both 4 months old so maybe we'll do the same with her. I'm honestly enjoying snuggling her quite a bit. Thank goodness we bought a king size bed because Andrew has still been coming in every morning around 4:00.

Parker just can't get enough...

Parker has been attached to baby Piper since she got home. He told me yesterday, "I just can't get enough of Piper Jane". He wants to kiss her all of the time. On another note... Parker was about to get a spanking tonight for getting out of bed and when Cameron asked him, "do you know why you're getting a spanking?" Parker said, "I smell chips". Cam had been eating chips in the living room:) Cam asked again, "do you know why you're getting a spanking?" Parker said, "because I want chips".

Our family has grown by 2 Feet :)

Daddy's Little Girl...

We took some sweet pics today of Cam and baby Piper. Daddy just loves his little girl:). The boys came home from their grandma and Papa's today and they've loved getting to be around Piper. Every once in a while Parker will run up to me and say, "Can we keep her? PLEASE!!" I guess he thinks we're going to have to take her back. Every time she fusses or cries he says, "I've gotta go check on Piper Jane". What a sweet big brother:).
Update on our germs... 3 out of 5 of us are on the Z-Pack. Cam woke up with a sore throat and went to the doc this morning. We're really hoping Parker and Piper stay germ free.