"Love is Contageous"

One thing I've learned about parenting is that most of the decisions you make are in the moment. It's not often that you get to leave the situation, contemplate the best response, and then always return with the appropriate attitude and actions. This leaves me constantly in pursuit of any evidence that I'm making good fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants decisions.

Today during church Haley's and Allie's hair was wild with static from their coats. Brent was trying to smooth Allie's hair, gently stroking her head over and over again. I watched the effect as though Brent's gesture were contageous. Allie began stroking Haley's hair and then rubbing her back. Haley was then rubbing Emily's cheek and cooing at her. I guess love is contageous. I'm glad to see that in all of the rushing around and trying to meet the needs of three little girls, we're managing to squeeze in enough evidences of love so that they know what love is and how to share it. As a mom, I'm convinced that love is not in the getting, but in the giving. Today it seemed that Haley and Allie understood that too.

Flip Factory

If you've ever been to our house you know that Haley and Allie rearrange the furniture on a regular basis. Part of cleaning up at the end of the day is to put the furniture back where it belongs. Tonight Haley and Allie arranged the couches so they could jump from one to the other. I was only able to capture Haley on video. Our couches are pretty old and we probably shouldn't let them jump on them, but the couches are also great trampolines for 4 and 2 year old girls. It makes me laugh to see them do these sorts of things. They're so fearless. Of course it never occurs to them that they could fall and hit their head on the hard wood floor. Also, it never occurred to me to do these things when I was a kid. How did they come to the conclusion that it's okay to make our furniture their personal play gym?

Hooray for Allie!

Allie is officially potty-trained! Hooray!

I figured if I waited long enough she would potty-train herself just as Haley did. We've been waiting for this to happen for 4 months now. On Thursday we ran out of pull-ups for Allie. Brent explained to Allie that the pull-ups were all gone and she was going to have to use the potty from now on.

We've had a few accidents, but Allie has slept through the last two nights in her panties without wetting the bed. She's so excited about wearing her panties. She also likes getting her choice of candy every time she uses the potty. Feel free to call and tell Allie congratulations.

"Haley, Allie and Emily"

"Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express." ~Joseph Addison

"A daughter is a day brightener and a heart warmer." ~Author Unknown "A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost." ~Amy Li "I, who have no sisters or brothers, look with some degree of innocent envy on those who may be said to be born to friends." ~James Boswell

"Babies are such a nice way to start people." ~Don Herrold

"It sometimes happens, even in the best of families, that a baby is born. This is not necessarily cause for alarm. The important thing is to keep your wits about you and borrow some money." ~Elinor Goulding Smith

"I'd give all wealth that years have piled,The slow result of Life's decay,To be once more a little child For one bright summer day".~Lewis Carroll, "Solitude"

"Sisters are different flowers from the same garden." ~Author Unknown I just wanted to include some of these fun pictures of Haley, Allie and Emily. They're such a joy. I can't get over how everyday gets even better. When Brent and I found out Emily was going to be our third girl, people insinuated that Brent was disappointed that she wasn't a boy, but he loves being surrounded by all these girls. We're all so crazy about him! I keep telling him that when he's an old man he'll be well taken care of.

We hope Haley, Allie and Emily know how much we appreciate and love them. What a blessing!

"Gladys"

This is our adopted dog "Gladys." Haley named her.

We think Gladys lives a couple of doors down. From what I understand about great danes they consider themselves part of the family. I think Gladys gets lonely for her family during the day and then comes to play at our house. She's really good with the kids and she's always excited to greet Brent when he gets home from work. We discovered that she likes bananas and Gladys has a regular spot on our couch. It's actually really nice having an adopted dog, it's like being a grandparent - when she does stuff we don't like we send her home and we don't have to afford to feed her!

"I Don't Want to Breathe"

Allie has had a runny nose all day today. I was doctoring her before she went to bed to ensure that she would be able to breathe tonight. As I suctioned out her nose Allie proclaimed, "I just want to go to bed!" (An obvious attempt to avoid having her nose cleared out. Allie never wants to go to bed. She gets points for cleverness though.) After I applied some Vick's vapor rub to her nose she complained that it was burning. Poor kid! Her eyes were watering! I tried to wipe it off, but it was too late. I tried to explain to Allie that I couldn't rub it off. It had already sunk in. "It will stop burning soon," I said, "It will help you breathe" but that wasn't good enough for Allie. She concluded, "I don't want to breathe!"

"A Name and a Blessing"

Emily Ann Helms was born August 29, 2008. She was blessed by her daddy on November 2. She looked so pretty in her bonnet, dress, special socks and blanket. Each time a baby is born in our family Brent gives the baby a blessing in front of the congregation at church. The name that we have chosen is stated in the blessing along with blessings and counsel that pertain to the baby's life. Grandma and Papa always give the baby a bonnet (Emily also received a bracelet to wear for her blessing day), Grammy made the dress for Emily, Nana made her blanket, and Grandpa provided the adorable socks. It was a really special day for our family.

We're all so excited to have Emily in our family. She's such a sweet baby. She's not much of a giggler. She doesn't even crack a lot of big smiles, but when she's happy she has the most content look on her face. There's no other word to describe it but sweet. Perhaps the most fun we have with Emily are the evidences that Haley and Allie love her so much. They like to kiss her goodnight and hold her when she's happy. ( I guess nobody likes to hold a crying baby except the mom.) We may not have everything that others would consider essential for happiness, but I'm convinced that nothing else in life can offer this kind of joy.