Sorry we've been MIA!

Oh my gosh, where has the time gone??? We've been so crazy busy around here over the last month but I feel like I've got just a minute to catch my breath so I wanted to come over here tonight and see if I can start playing catch up a little! Have no idea how to do this but maybe I can share what we've been up to and then come back and post some pics in chronological order?

First of all, Christmas was WONDERFUL!!!! We had Chelle, Leo and Bella, Kristi and Jerry, Ricky, Adam, Ashlie, Allie and Annie all home for Christmas! I cannot begin to tell you how full our hearts were this year. It seems like for many years there has been someone missing for Christmas, whether it be a daughter in the military, a daughter that couldn't make it home, or a daughter that we just knew was waiting for us somewhere in China. This year, for Christmas, ALL my babies were home. It was Annie's first Christmas, and she just showed so much JOY with everything we did.

Spending so much time with Chelle and Bella ended up bringing some grief issues to the surface for our sweet Allie, and we had many episodes of sobbing and many requests to play that she was growing in my tummy, or that she was my tiny baby. It broke my heart to see our baby hurting so much, but really I think it was good for her to get some of those feelings out. She's now seeming to be a happier girl, and she's definitely been so much more receptive to her mama's love and much more demonstrative in showing her love for her mama! (& y'all would have cracked up at one of Allie's prayers - "thank you, lord, for helping Mary push baby Jesus out of her tummy." - yes, her thoughts were definitely with birth mothers and birth!!)

After we said goodbye to Kristi and Jerry, and then Chelle, Leo, and Bella, we ended up having Lisa's family over to help us ring in the New Year. (Lisa had to work - we missed you sis! - but it was fun having her crew over!)

To start off the new year, Ricky found an apartment here in town on the MSU campus! We were so excited for him to get his own place that's nearby so we can actually stop by and visit the boy every now and then. Ricky was without a car for several months, but he received a gift from his older sister Kristi when she went and bought a new car ~ she told Ricky that he could have her old one! So we put Ricky on a bus and he rode to Dallas, had a nice visit with Kristi and Jerry, and drove her old car back here. I know that gift meant a LOT to him. (Thank you again, Kristi!)

What else happened in January???? The girls had a wonderful day of near 70 degree weather, and it was followed by almost 12 hours of tornado warning after tornado warning. I had the girls on the other side of town when the warnings started and I was so scared, not knowing where the tornados were or what in the world I would do if I had to stop and try to get all three of them out of their carseats to safety. I did NOT keep calm and Ashlie quickly picked up on my fear. (Bad mommy.) Thankfully we all made it home before the storms hit here, but it wasn't long before they were going over the house. Scary. The warnings came one after another and it was quite a nerve-wracking night. It seemed like every tornado was headed for a different loved one's house. We ended up in the basement one last time around 3 a.m., and then finally it was over. We had large hail and high winds that damaged the roof, and we now have new shingles stacked on the house ready to lay the new roof.

I also decided that it was time to fix up the basement bedroom and bath for Adam. We spent lots of time scrubbing and cleaning, and then started in painting. Painted the bedroom, the closet, and the bathroom, plus painted his old dresser black to be used in the new room. We got Adam moved in downstairs and now his old room is crying out for primer and paint so the girls can move in there! (He had the bigger bedroom upstairs) I think that may be this week's project, . . .

The Monday night after the tornados, Annie came running into the living room after gymnastics. She tripped and fell, busting her chin open on the glass tv table. Oh, poor baby. Ashlie grabbed the phone and called her grandma and grandpa (poor sweetheart was so worried for her baby sister that she could hardly talk) Anyway, mom and dad headed up in case we needed to take her to the ER, and they stopped by Walgreens on the way. We ended up using Liquid Bandaid and butterfly closures to close up the chin and it's now healing nicely.

Last weekend we got to load up the car and head for Mississippi for Bella's baptism! It took us about 12 hrs and 15 minutes to get to Chelle's house, and we learned that Annie's travel limit is 11 hours 45 minutes. :-) We had a wonderful time just hanging out with them and enjoying seeing how much Bella had already changed (!!), and then we had the privilege of being there for her baptism. We are so proud of Chelle and Leo and wonderful job they're doing with our precious granddaughter. We had to leave soon after the baptism so it was a really quick visit, but it was a good one nonetheless. Since then, Chelle's been sick and Bella's been sick with an ear infection and cough. I think they need to be even closer to home, don't you?? ;-)

We got home from Mississippi and then had Monday night gymnastics and Annie started her first gymnastics class on Tuesday morning! I was so proud of her. I suspected she would be a natural with her limber joints and her strong strong muscles and I was right! Well, let's say I was right about the strength. Her sense of balance has yet to be determined ~ she prefers to run across that little crayon balance beam and get on to the more exciting stuff.

I was invited to a shower for Tricia's Makenna on Thursday night and planned to take the girls with me. Well, we ended up with a winter storm warning that night, and the snow was already accumulating before the shower so I decided to go it alone. I called Rick and he said that he'd try to leave work a bit early so he could be here with the girls, and I was hurrying around trying to get them fed a little supper and trying to get myself ready to go. Things were not going well when Ashlie got mad about not getting to go and Allie started sobbing during her supper (still not sure what triggered it, but I think she didn't want to eat??) I came running down the stairs with only socks on and my foot slipped off the step and I went flyin' - landing so sharply, hitting my back on the corner of the second step. I was on the floor, yelling in pain, and Ashlie was so scared she started crying. I finally was able to pull myself up and see that I "only" had a vicious bruise on my back - no broken bones and no blood! Ashlie stopped crying and Annie looked at me, put her hands in the air (as if to say "tada!") and she said "Annie's POOPY!" Oh my, I could only laugh and laugh at that one!! LOL, I did make it to the shower even tho' I got lost on the way (couldn't read any road signs covered with snow!), and we had a wonderful time there. You know, seeing each gift for Makenna, I could only think about how excited she would eventually be to know that they were HERS. Only slid once on the way home too. The following day ended up being a snow day, and the girls made their very first snowman!!

Last night we helped to set up for the Lunar New Year party and then went out to eat with the Headley's afterward. It was a great start to the weekend. Today was the big Chinese New Year party and the girls had so much FUN! I was just so happy to see them having so much fun.

Okay. So it's been a busy month. Month and a half. Whatever! I'm going to go post some pics! & THEN I'm going to try to catch up on READING some of my good friends' blogs!