Thank goodness it is Friday. I need a couple days off. Not that they are truly "days off," but at least it is a little less work I will have to do for two days.

Hubby has been everywhere but here it seems for the past week. He has been driving silage trucks back and forth which is a nonstop job. He comes in for 1/2 hour at breakfast, and then I don't see him until after milking time (7ish pm). Wednesday he went to a cow show 4 hours away with his dad , and yesterday a cow sale with his boss. Meanwhile, here I sit with our newborn and three year old. A two year old, and three six year olds and an eight year old after school. Not to mention the endless loads of laundry, dishes, and just tons of housework in general. It is starting to get to me a bit. I need a break. Last night we went to Jaycie's open house at school. I barely had enough time to get ready, and get my kids fed by the time the last daycare child left. So, I left dinner on the counter and out the door we all went. When we got home, I got the kids in bed, the baby fed, dinner stuff cleaned up, dishwasher loaded, floor swept, one load of laundry folded and put away, another load put in the dryer, and one in the washer. All while my husband snored on the couch. Oh, I just wanted to punch him. I guess it is time for a heart to heart. LOL I am exhausted.

Thank you to my little one who wakes at 2 am so that I have time to blog. LOL Her 2 week check up went well. Of course there were many comments from various people about her red hair. The doctor told me that she is "baby magazine beautiful." What a great doctor, I think we will go back. ;)

The first day back to work went pretty smoothly. I don't think it will take long to get back into a regular routine, thank goodness. It rained all day, so we were stuck inside. But, it could have been much worse.

My brother is fine. Just busy. Turns out, he will have to stay in Lousiana for a bit longer now. I feared that would happen. As of yesterday, he just has to stay and extra week. Lets hope there are no more hurricanes.

Just heard from my friend in TX. She is ok, thank goodness. I am now worried about my brother who is an hour north of New Orleans. No one has heard from him yet. :(

Off for a fun trip to Walmart with my crew. LOL First time really taking the baby out and about. I hope it goes smoothly. :)

Thoughts from today:

Today actually felt like a fall day. It was cool and I had my apple yankee candle burning. :)

I had the two after school boys for an extra hour today. Believe you me, I was watching out the window for their mom by the last half hour. LOL I think there is a reason why I have all girls. Maybe I am just not mother of boy(s) material. Or, maybe it is just those particular boys . Either way, I am glad it is Friday. Next week, daycare is back in full swing. I hope I can get a routine together quickly.

I hope my dear friend got to Austin. I am a bit worried since she didn't call today. I am afraid she and her crew are stranded along side the road somewhere. Gosh, I hope not.

For some reason, I cannot get enough cranberry juice. Weird I know. I have only had one diet coke today which is such a change for me. In the hospital after Avery was born, I either drank water or cranberry juice. Now, that is all I want. And, extra calories I certainly don't need.

Speaking of extra calories, it is time to lose some weight. UGH. Amazingly after less than two weeks, I am 20 pounds lighter than I was when I gave birth. How that happened, I don't know. It never has before, but I am not complaining. Now, just to lose about 35 more. LOL I doubt that will be as easy. :(

Our little one is so smiley. I don't believe for a second that "it is just gas." LOL We caught this one while my little sister was holding her over the weekend. How cute is that? Oh my gosh, I could just eat her up. :)

Two years ago today I was 8 weeks pregnant and began bleeding heavily. Tomorrow marks two years since I miscarried. I wish someone had told me then how incredibly blessed I was and that there was so much more to come. I will always be sad about that loss, but I can't imagine being any happier than I am now.

Well, she is here and I am madly in love. :) I am still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I am a mother to three--three girls no less. I bet this place will be a zoo in about 10 years. She is such a great little baby too. I have been so blessed with all three of my daughters-they are all good sleepers. Thankfully, I have never had to endure sleepless newborn nights. *Knock on wood.* Her sisters just adore her, maybe a bit too much. I have to have my eyes on the baby nonstop for fear Mackenna may break her in half. LOL They just want to love on her constantly. I think things will calm down in that aspect soon. Once they realize she is here to stay, the novelty may wear off. Hopefully, things will get somewhat normal then.

I have this fear that the baby will be born on the 11th. I would hate for my baby to have that for a birthday and be reminded of the catastrophe that happened on that day every year. Someone tell me how ridiculous I am.

I lucked out and have the morning and early afternoon off. I am free (besides Mackenna) until 3:40 pm when 4 hyper monsters get off the school bus and head for my house. :) I haven't had free time in I don't know how long. I really should clean, but that nesting stuff has come and gone. LOL Maybe Kenna and I will shop.

I feel like I have a boulder welded to the front of me. My abdomen just feels so hard and heavy. I really have been spoiled before. I never had to go through the very end of pregnancy. And, just like I have been told--it really does suck. ;) I hope I go this weekend, but I have a feeling I may go overdue. How ironic. I am still convinced that this may be a boy. He/she has just been a pita. LOL

Is it too early for indian summer? I can't remember when it seems to hit. But, it sure is warm here today. I noticed some leaves changing this morning when I took Jaycie to school. Made me hungry for donuts and apple cider. So, Kenna and I went to the store and got some. Really hit the spot. :)

Kenna is sick. :( Turns out the little bug I had over the weekend has made its way to her. My poor baby. She has just not moved from the couch all morning. I hope it is short-lived.

I feel so loved. LOL Not really, but I am so tired of my phone ringing and people asking "Are you still pregnant?" "Haven't you had that baby yet?" "How are you feeling?" Okay, people. I love you very much for being concerned about me, but I promise I will let you know if I end up with a baby on the outside of my body anytime in the near future.

And, I am jumping on the bandwagon and am going to throw in my two cents about the mess on the gulf coast. And I can because, it is my blog, right? ;) I have read and heard people comment over the past week about how everyone needs to stop blaming our President for the disaster in the south. After all, "he didn't personally cause the hurricane." Well, no kidding. As much as I agree that now is not the time for the blame game, at some point someone is going to be held accountable. I am with the many people who feel that this whole relief/rescue effort has certainly not been up to par. The storm was predicted. We knew it was coming. Why was there not a better effort made to get these people the heck out of there? And, why was aid (food, rescuers, meds, etc.) not being prepared and ready to go the minute the rain subsided? I guess the powers that be thought thousands of people could tough it out for a couple of days? HELLO???? Do I think this all lies on the president's shoulders? Not necessarily. Although, those that know me well know that George Bush would pretty much have to walk on water to impress me. I am very cynical when it comes to the current administration. I do believe that the head of FEMA will have to answer some questions when things are under control. I saw two interviews with homeless families last night on television. These poor people are searching for anyone affiliated with FEMA. WTF? A week after this tragedy and people have to search for help. Good grief. The city of New Orleans had a drill for this type of disaster not that long ago and they failed it miserably. So, I am guessing they should have been working on better strategies as well. I just hope that this is a huge wake up call and that Americans learn from the mistakes that have been made in dealing with this mess. I fear that when the water is under control we will find that we haven't even seen the worst of it.

Off to tend to my little one.

When you have a subject as cute as this, how can you help it? :)

That is how I feel. Just not feeling very social or upbeat today. I had a terrible weekend. I thought I was either in labor or had a stomach bug. Guess it was the latter because I am still severly pregnant. LOL I have a doctor's appt. today that I need to reschedule as it turns out. Hopefully, I can just sneak in earlier or tomorrow. I really am anxious to find out how things are going down there. ;)

Today is my daughter's first day of first grade. I can't believe how big she is. I think I must be the strangest parent because it seems that every first day of school, every birthday,etc., I get so sad. ARG. Make her stop growing, PUH-LEEZE! I am waiting to wake her up in a bit to get ready. I will post a pic later on. It was such an ordeal picking out our "first day outfit." ;)

My brother called the day before yesterday from Virginia. Apparently, I thought he was flying to New Orleans, but he is driving one of those big trucks full of supplies in a convoy. Two days and they only got as far as VA from PA? I don't really get that, but whatever. I haven't heard from him since, I would assume he is there by now. I just hope he stays safe and that many people are benefitting from the supplies on that truck.

He left about a half an hour ago for Louisiana. Turns out his "easy way to pay for college" isn't turning out to be so easy. In two years he has been away from home more than he has been here at school. First Kosovo and now to the disaster down south. I knew the second that he signed on for the National Guard that I wanted to strangle him. I just worry so much. I think he is very naive about what he is about to witness down there. Yeah, it could be worse. He could be in Iraq. Thank God he isn't and I pray he never will have to be. When he called me yesterday to tell me he had to leave, he said to me "It's just water, Heather. Could be so much worse." What a moron. I told him to turn on the news and call me later. Obviously, he hadn't been following the coverage. Looters, gun fire, disease, water moccosins, dead bodies lying around, etc. Not "just water." He will be there for a minimum of 30 days. Wonderful. I just pray he is kept safe.

What really stinks is that he just moved into his dorm room this past weekend to begin his fall semester of college. The army called and gave him less than 24 hours notice. He had to completely withdraw from the semester. His girlfriend will have to repack up his room to get his stuff out of there. And, get this....he doesn't even know where in the entire state of Louisiana he will be. They really gave him next to no details what-so-ever. Of course, he may be able to call home until the battery on his cell runs dead, then who knows when we will hear from him.

I can't take the stress. I think I will probably break my children's fingers if they think of signing up to join the military in any capacity. LOL