Great kid book

I know a lot of you have children that are my kid's age and so I am going to tell you about a seris of books she likes. They are "Franny K. Stein" by Jim Benton. Caroline loves them. There are only about 6 of them, but it is wnough to keep most kids busy for a couple of weeks. They seem pretty easy. I think they are for ages 7-10. When Caroline asked the librarian for them she tought they would be out of her league. But she quickly learned that they were not. Not to brag (okay, to brag...) but Caroline is at the highest reading level in her class. They are not sure what grade level she is at because she has exceeded all of the tests so far! Yea! I would like to take credit, but the credit goes exclusively to reading the scriptures. Plus Caroline really loves reading so she does it a lot. That is what the key is, I imagine. Math, however is another story entirely. Don't get me started. You might as well be teaching the kid Swahili.

No Hurricane

The baby is in her bed crying right now. She slept for a little while and is awake. But I have things I would like to get doen. I just cannot be picking her up and holding her all of the time! I went to take her to the doc today for a well-baby visit and I had forgotten her insurance card, so they wouldn't see her. And the pediatrician is way out in the middle of nowhere! It takes 30 minutes to get there... Thanks HMO... so I had to reschedule for next week. It is raining today. We are all fine in case you are worried about Humberto getting us. It is not going to come near us. We will just get a lot of rain. Our lawn looks like a lake again. I hate when it rains here because it takes twice as long to get places.

Baby Stats

FYI Lorelai was weighed and measured today. She was 10 lbs 11 oz (double her birth weight) and 21 inches long. She will be 12 weeks old on Thursday! The nurse at WIC said that she is probably going through a growth spurt and that is why she is waking up so much at night. She said this is the typical 3 month old spurt. Last night she woke up 3 times! She is usually only up once. This makes me sad. But she is just hungry. I feed her and she eats like I have never fed her before! So I guess she will get past it. At least, I hope so!

Poor Professor

I went and signed up for WIC today. We had to break down because our budget seems to shrink daily. We will save quite a bit every month getting eggs, juice, milk, etc. It is a very sad state this country is in when college professors qualify for welfare services. Something needs to be done about the economy. Milk here costs almost $5 a gallon! It is insane! That is about $30 a month for us!!! I am just disgusted with this situation. I am not too proud though. Since I am staying home with my children I have to do what I can to make our dollar stretch.

I'm beat

This kid is kickin my butt! i am so tired. She just hasn't been sleeping very well and I am beat. I was hoping for a nap today, but no such luck. I had to make brownies for Institute tonight, and I was doing that while she was crying her head off. I feel like I could fall asleep standing up. The only time she won't cry is when I hold her. I don't know what her dealis. But she is just soooo cute, I can't even be mad at her! The little stinker!

Just to hear myself talk

Can I just tell you how very nice it is to have a computer and internet back! This one is a desktop that cannot leave the house so I will constantly have it here. It is so convenient. I had forgotten how helpful it is! The problem is getting on without a baby in my arms. And I am not very good at typing with one hand. But Lorelai wants my attention and it makes it very difficult to do this. I am stopping after every sentence to put her binkie in. And now I am holding hr again... this is a pain. I taught sunday school yesterday. We had 3 boys there. That was it... I never want to do that again. They are very good boys, very nice boys, but I just felt stupid. Anyway, Justin has to do the "keeping your body morally clean" lesson next week. Better him than me! We are going to the Waihi's (my friend, Vicki's) house for FHE tonight. I am so glad I don't have to prepare a lesson. I am so lazy!

Down came the rain...

It rains pretty much every day here. But yesterday was especially crazy. The drainage problem here on the streets and everywhere is bad. This is our front yard! We have a ditch that is supposed to drain the water, but it obviously doesn't cut it. It is definitely a change from living in the desert! We have to carry around an umbrella where ever we go.

The Girls

Sleeping through the night was a one time only thing. She was up every 2 hours last night which is not like her at all! These are pics from yesterday.

A better day

Today was a better day at school for Hilton. He said that Ms. Beaudreaux was nice today. That ptobably means that she wasn't fussing at the children today. Tomorrow night it is his open house so we will learn more about the Montessori school approach. I am excited to learn more about what he does.Lorelai was fussy again today. I think she was feeling crummy. But she slept through the whole night last night!!! From 10:30 to 6am! But I woke up every hour as usual. I just didn't have to get out of bed, which was very nice. But I am concerned it was just a one time thing. We shall see. Justin's first night of teaching Institute was tonight. He said it went very well. He had 8 students, which is wonderful! He has CES (Church Education System) training in Baton Rouge on Sat. So We will probably all go and just do something in Baton Rouge that day. There is a huge mall there that is fun to look around in. So that will be fun. Tomorrow Caroline is off of school so we are going to have a mother/daughter day. We are going to have lunch and do some window shopping and we have to make some banana bread for our neighbors who mowed our lawn. I'll let ya know how it goes.

More update

Typing with one hand is hard, but I'll do my best... I have a baby in my arms. We took the kids to Chuckie Cheese on Friday after school. We had promised them we would since we found out we were moving here. They were in heaven. It was Lorelai's first Chuckie Cheese experience. She loved the pizza and riding the rides. Only kidding. She was unimpressed. But she was good. She just looked around and took it all in. Okay, so here is the low-down on school. Caroline doesn't like it. Things are very strict here. They have to say Yes, ma'am and No ma'am, they have to wear uniforms and she doesn't like wearing skirts and jumpers all the time. They have to be quiet in the halls. It is just not what she is used to. She feels like the teachers are always yelling. Which they probably are. The people here are very loud. Everyone is! It seems like people yell at me! One of the teachers yelled at Caroline to get back in the car because she got out in the wrong spot. The pick-up/ drop-off process here is ridiculous. Anyway, I just about lost it with that woman. I am the only one who can yell at my kids!!! She was surprised, to say the least and apologized and said she didn't realize we were new. (By this time she has seen my Idaho liscense plate.) Anyway, I don't think she will be yelling at Caroline again anytime soon. Hilton has the same problem. The teachers talk really loud and it seems like they are yelling. But they are just trying to keep order. He has to wear a uniform too and has to walk down the hall with one had on his hips and a finger on his lips. He is there all day. It is a little much but it is the way they do things here. They learn the things they learn in Kindergarten in pre-k, so I don't want him to get behind if we do end up staying here. The plan is just to be here a year, but Justin has to find another job before we can move... I have white ceramic tile floors. They are a pain. They are gorgeous when they are clean, but they do not stay clean for very long. They are throughout the house except for the bedrooms. We have a rug in the livingroom, but that doesn't cover the whole room. But it's okay, because they are nice, and they are cool on my feet in the morning which is nice! Another plus about Louisiana is that we don't have to water the lawn. It is very humid here and rains pretty much everyday, but only a shower. But it keeps our grass beautiful and clean. Unfortunately we haven't gotten a lawn mower yet, and our across the street neighbors came over yesterday and mowed our lawn for us! They are so nice. We really lucked out. They have a daughter Caroline's age and the girls love to play together. They are very friendly people and just very generous! Eventually, when the time is right, I am going to tell them about the church. I have yet to lose anymore weight. But it has been a very stressful time. I cannot say I am very excited to be here, so that has contributed to my nightly ice cream habit. But I will get right on that! My birthday is coming up! I will be 34. I love my birthday. I like to get cards... hint hint! :) I am kind of silly that way. But anyway, just FYI, it is on the 26th, in case anyone has forgotten!!! I better go now. It is after 9am and I am still in my pj's.