Where the heck have we been?

Well, I'm glad you asked.  Although it may not look like it due to my lack of posting, the truth is, we have been very busy here in the McGlothin Family Nest! 

Let's see, since Christmas Bella, Claire and I had dinner with her mom (Julie) and sister (Arabelle).  It was something that I never thought in a million years would ever come to fruition, but before they flew back to Hawaii in early-January, they came to our house and we shared a meal (sans Luke, he was traveling on business).  It turns out that as women and mothers, Julie and I actually have a lot in common.  And I think it was awesome for Bella to see us in the same room having a civil conversation using inside voices that is not taking place in a courtroom.  (Yes, people.  I am human and my emotions have gotten the best of me in the past.  I'm not proud of those moments, but I think we can all agree that they happen to everyone.  Everyone that is human.)

But, I made spaghetti and she brought some blue cake.  We jumped on the trampoline and worked puzzles.  There was a gingerbread house craft planned should things have been so awkward that we needed some activity alternative to speaking, but we never ended up doing it because Bella, Claire and Arabelle were having so much fun together and no police had been called due to neighbor complaints of battery taking place over at the McGlothins.  (I kid, sort of.)

All in all, it was a great way to start out the New Year!  In all the fun, this is the only picture I grabbed.

More to come...  Lots more... I have like eight months to cover before I can get back into the present day.

Well, that didn't go as planned...

So I had dreams of spending my long weekend full of playtime with my little bear (Claire) and my big bear (Luke), but things just didn't turn out that way.  First I got hit by the cleaning bug.  Now you may think that this is a good thing- the whole spring cleaning thing.  But really, it just took over. 

I'll get back to that in just a sec, because more importantly, Luke's grandmother passed away Sunday.  She has had Alzheimer's for more than five years now and has been living from a feeding tube for more than four.  She is no longer in pain and is now in Heaven with Luke's cousin Timmy.  We are at peace with God's timing to bring her home.

Luke took Claire to Knoxville yesterday (since I couldn't get off work on such short notice) and is coming home tonight.  The service is this morning, and I am so grateful that his entire family is there to support his father and grandfather.

It's a little blurry, but here we are when Grandmother and Grandjerry came to our cabin in the Smokies last summer.

Sylvia was a wonderful mother and grandmother, and while we are sad that our children won't remember her, we will let the stories of her great love live on for years to come. 

So Sunday I did squeeze a little play time in with my little bear...

And Monday I packed her up and sent them on their way.

Back to the cleaning... I realized that my house hadn't been totally deep cleaned since Claire was born and my mom hired Merry Maids, and then my Granny (Pop's mom) came for the week after Claire's arrival and cleaned what Merry Maids missed.  (And y'all, she cleaned out my garage.  Yes, I know she is a saint and I love her very much.)

So needless to say the impending arrival of my middle bear (Bella- I don't know where all the bear references are coming from today, but I'll just go with it.) I got the urge to clean my house.  Not play on the living room floor with the Busy Ball Popper and V-Tech Crawling Ball.  Not stroll down the block with baby and dog.  Nope, clean.  And clean hard core.  (This is my biggest justification to get a maid.  I hate that cleaning was more important to me than spending time with my family.)

Saturday, I cleaned out the pantry and took care of the kitchen.  Then Sunday... stop.  Yes, the kitchen took me all day Saturday.  Don't judge.  Where was I?  Oh, then Sunday I attacked Bella's room.  My sister-in-law and niece often play in here with Claire while I'm at work.  But some of this stuff hasn't been touched since she was here in March.

And while part of me is so embarrassed to show this, I do want to encourage women and let moms know, they are not alone.  So, if your little's bookshelf and play kitchen gets a wipe down and the disinfectant wipe looks like this...

you are not alone!

And then Monday, after Luke and Claire left for Knoxville I cleaned Claire's nursery and my bathroom.  And while my hands still smell like bleach and my muscles are so sore from bending over into the tub and toilet and my knees are bruised from scrubbing tile grout, the finished product made it worth it.

Are you digging my pink bow wallpaper?  It's the last room in the house left to be redone!  I still have the guest bedroom and bathroom and my bedroom to get to this week, and then the living and dining rooms this Saturday before Bella comes on Sunday.  I do feel better knowing that things are clean, but I wish I knew we could keep it this clean!

Anyway, I hope your Memorial Day went a bit better than mine.  Oh, and if you haven't been by The Pioneer Woman to check out her Coming Home series of pictures, go over there right this very minute!  It is a beautiful tribute to the reason for Memorial Day and thanking the troops who serve and protect our freedoms.  And then come back to leave a comment about your Memorial Day weekend, ok?

Can You Feel It?

Summer is almost here and I am about ready to burst with excitement.  I know Spring is when you are supposed to plant new flowers, but everything in our household runs a bit behind.  So it shouldn't surprise you that we are just now getting around to sprucing up the front yard.

A gift card to Home Depot from Luke's wonderful parentals allowed us to get moving in the right direction.  We bought all necessary supplies Sunday with intentions of taking care of business, but exhaustion set in and we put it off- telling ourselves Monday after work it wouldn't be so hot- but it was still 91 degrees at 5:30 yesterday.  And any working mom can tell you the last thing they want to do after a long day at the office is work in the yard.

But we trudge onwards.  Claire Bear just watching from the sidelines (but not to worry- Luke will have her mowing the lawn in no time).

But this planting flowers thing is no simple task in Alabama.  Why, you ask?  Because our "garden" is really just a bed of red clay.  Underneath this nice, moist, lush, really expensive garden soil is solid. red. Alabama. clay.  It's full of racks, and I hate it.

Please check out this cute blonde on the garden soil bag... She sitting in her lush, green grass with a smile on her face in jeans and sans sweat.  No pictures of me so you can just imagine that's what I looked like, ok?

But in the end, it was all worth it.  And in a few weeks, we will have an orange and white checkerboard of flowers- for my Tennessee Volunteers fan husband. 

And I was just telling Luke that if Claire were born during the Summer, I may have never gone back to work.  I would have been outside all day, teaching her to roll around in the grass and continually pull sticks from her mouth.  I would have been at the park and the playground, meeting other mommies and finding that adult interaction I was so desperate for.  No, if Claire was born during the Summer I may still be at home with her.

But as always, God has a plan- and it was for me to go back to work- so Claire was born in the middle of the coldest winter Alabama has seen in some time.  We spent 95% of our day inside, couped up with lousy daytime television and itching to get outside.

So, Summer- we are ready for you!  We will take walks with dogs and babies through neighborhoods, trails, and parks.  We will play in the sprinkler until our legs won't allow us to run any longer.  We will have picnics and play dates.  We will read books and have tea parties outside, just because we can.  There are many things in life that I am not ready for, but Summer- bring it on!

Not Much New

There really isn't much going on with us. Did some gardening this weekend and my body is so sore I feel like I did some hard core workout. Feeling sick less and less, but I'm ready for my energy to come back. Our next doctor's appointment is April 8th.

Once there is something more final about the state of my job, I will post. We're working on an Employment Agreement now, so hopefully all will be settled too. Please continue to pray for us.

We love you all!

I am becoming...

A human garbage disposal. I have eaten all in sight for the past few days. Baby must be going through a growth spurt because I have been unable to satisfy my hunger. Just for an example, this morning I had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, half a box of cheez-its to snack on, a 10 piece chicken nuggets, fries and a double cheesburger from McDonald's for lunch, two strawberry popscicles for dessert, and I am hungry again already!

I guess it doesn't help that only about half of what I eat stays down, but still, how am I supposed to get anything done if I spend my entire day stuffing my face?

In other news, we are getting Spring Fever and taking care of the mess formerly known as our backyard. Luke filled in all of the holes Cooper has given us and we are trying to regrow grass. She is not happy about being in her crate all day, but she would re-ruin everything if we let her in the backyard all day. I am going to plant some flowers in the front yard this weekend (Bella requested pink and purple) and hope they don't die!

That is all for us now, but we will have more interesting and exciting soon I'm sure. We got back to the doctor again on April 8th just for a check up, and I get to hear the heartbeat again, but no ultrasound :( Love you all- Gini