Please Pray

To all of my faithful blog readers, I would like to plead with you to please pray for us right now. I am not sure how much you all know about our housing situation in Tomball, but here is the story. We found a house that we love in Tomball. Unfortunately the man currently living there has not paid the landlord rent and she was in the process of having him evicted. Her court date was scheduled for Tuesday, January 8 but it was pushed back to January 18 due to a technicality (out of the landlords control). We decided to try and persue other housing options at this point because we didn't think we could wait that long to decide. We looked around at the very short list of other options and in the end decided the house would be worth the wait. Stacie, the landlord, informed us that after the court date, the tennant would have 5 days to make his plea and then he would have 3 days to get out of the house or be physically removed. Stacie told us that the tennant was in the process of buying a house and so she thought he wouldn't be a problem. She had been able to get a verbal agreement from the man that he would be out by this Friday and he asked for a day to clean the house and then we could move in on the 26th. We went ahead and scheduled the movers and started setting up the utilities for the house. Yesterday afternoon I recieved a phone call from Stacie and she told me that the tennant was not cooperating. She had filed for the Writ of Possesion (I think that is what it is called and it is were the guy has 48 hours to get out or he would be removed) but that it would not go in effect until Monday of next week. She doesn't know if the tennant is going to be out of the house on Friday and she has advised us to stay in Round Rock until she can have him removed. Unfortunately we have movers coming tomorrow and we have already rented the Uhaul for Friday-Sunday. Dave and I are extremely frustrated with the whole situation and are really tired of having to deal with this situation. I am asking for prayer because it is so easy for me to get really angry and stressed out right now and I know that I need to remain calm and trust that God will take care of us. I keep repeating Matthew 6:25-34 but it is so hard to see clearly through this situation.
Love you all and we will keep you updated. We will not have internet access after tomorrow, but we will try and keep you informed as best as possible. Feel free to call if you have any advice or questions.

Whistle while you work

I just finished my big cleaning project of the day which was to clean the bathrooms. I was able to clean the guest bathroom this morning during Ally's nap and while I was cleaning the other bathroom this evening, I set her in her walker next to the mirror in our bedroom and she had a blast looking at her reflection. Emily sat on my bed and watched cartoons. I hate that I have had to sit Emily in front of the television so much this week, but it is the only way I can get anything done.

I had big plans to take the girls out today but I completely lost track of the time. I did make a Starbucks run which brightened up our day a little. I really wanted to take Emily to the bookstore to pick out a book because I packed most of her books away and I think she is tired of the ones I left out. I thought it would be fun to let her pick out a book. Maybe I can still do that tomorrow. I am really excited that Dave will be coming home tomorrow night. It has been a long couple of days without him. Emily keeps saying "Daddy, no work!" throughout the day. I really think that she thinks he has been at work the entire time he has been gone. When Dave tucks Emily in bed at night, she asks him if he is going to work. Usually the answere is yes, unless it is the weekend but Dave and I always wonder if she thinks he only comes home to eat and then goes back to work after she goes to bed.

Busy, busy

I cannot imagine what life must have been like for my mom having five kids under the age five. I am exhausted from taking care of Emily and Ally the last two days as well as trying to pack and clean in my free time. I have spread out the cleaning so that I do one or two large things a day so that by the end of the week all we need to do is spot clean before we head out the door. I feel like the move is finally coming together. Dave ordered the Uhaul today and I set up the movers. Most of the apartment is packed and really all that is left is the things I need to use everyday. I am really looking forward to putting this move behind us.

My outing with the girls today involved McDonalds and Target. I was going to take Emily to Chic-fil-a but the one closest to us doesn't have a playplace. I didn't realize that until we drove up. We settled for the McDonalds next door and it was a good choice. I had so much fun watching Emily play. There was a three year old boy trying to show her how to climb up the play area, but Emily just did not get it. She finally figured it out on her own. When she got tired of usuing all of her strength to lift herself up the steps, she would sit and cry for help. She got a couple of the kids to pull her up. I was very amused at some of the tactics she was using as well as how well she could interact with all of the kids. I let her run around for an hour and then I had to run to Target to pick up some extra storage bins for packing. When we got home I put the girls down for their naps and tried to get some packing done. Now I am exhausted and I still have to clean the fridge out. I hate cleaning the fridge because I have to throw so much good food away. There is no way to take it with us and I have eaten everything that I can.

My Dad's surgery went well last night. He has been in a lot of pain today. I found out last night that my dad was working on my mom's car in the street and someone drove by and ran into the car. That is why it fell on top of him. The other car just drove off. I cannot believe someone would do that. They probably had know idea my dad was under the car.

I also found out last night that my Grandmother past away. She was my Dad's step-mom and I didn't really know her that well. She has had alzheimer's for a really long time. My dad was always trying to witness to her and she never thought anything of it. I know he feels really disappointed knowing she died and wasn't a christian. I feel bad for my dad having to go through this with everything else that has just happend to him.

Day 1

Day 1 of Dave being away has gone really well. Ally and Emily have been in good moods for the most part and they took a nice long nap this afternoon. For our outing of the day we went to Starbucks. I know that doesn't seem like much but the weather today has been rainy and cold and I really wanted to just stay inside all day. I knew that for my sanity I should probably get out, even if it was for a coffee and milk run. I have done a little bit of packing here and there as well. According to my plan for the week, I am supposed to clean the stove-top and the oven. Hopefully I will be able to do that this evening but I am not going to over-due myself. My priority is to take care of the girls. I was able to talk to Dave during his lunch break and he said he was having a good first day. He has learned so much from working in Georgetown and Marietta and he is able to put that to practice and ask all the right questions starting out.

I talked to my mom today about my Dad's progress and he was going to have surgery at 4 pm today to fix his ankle. I have not heard how the surgery was or if he was out or not. I really wish I could go and visit him but there is so much to do here right before the move.

In case you are wondering about the picture, the outfit that Emily is wearing is all her own idea. I have packed most of the toys Emily owns and so she has started digging in her toy bin for things she has not played with in awhile. It makes me think that she really doesn't need all those toys since she doesn't even play with most of them. Oh well. I guess that is the fun of being a kid.

Never a dull moment

I apologize for the gap in my blogging this week. Allison is feeling much better and she has not had a fever for about 4 days now. She has had a stuffy nose and been a little crankier than normal, but she is active and lively again. The moving process is still moving along. Jeff and Dorcas came and helped us pack this weekend. It was really nice to see them and they helped out a bunch by taking care of the girls and packing up boxes. Dave and I were relieved to get so much paking done and now I don't have to do everything by myself this week. Dave left town this evening and we were really sad to see him go. I was glad to be busy this weekend with packing so that I did not have to think about him not being here this week. I am worried about having to take care of Emily and Ally all by myself. I am usually so glad when Dave gets home from work and I can do anything. I am not going to have an outlet and I am really scared about how that is going to effect me. I bought some girly magazines and have plans to rent some movies that Dave would never watch with me so I hope that will help. I also plan to get out of the house at least once a day so that Emily doesn't go crazy. I would love to take her to the park but the weather is supposed to be bad this week. Anyways, Dave, we love you and miss you and we hope you have a great first week at work!

On a more serious note, I got a call from my mom this afternoon and she told me that my dad had been working on the brakes on her car and the car collapsed on top of him. She didn't know how bad it was but she said that my dad was talking and seemed to be doing alright. It wasn't life-threatening and that was the important part. I talked to my mom again a bit later and found out that my dad broke one of his ankles and he will probably need surgery on it. I was really relieved to hear that he didn't have any other injuries.

Ally May update

Last night Ally May went to bed with a temperature of 103.7 degrees. The doctor told me that her temperature probably would not go over 103 after she started the medicine she was perscribed so when I felt her and she was burning up, I got really worried again. I called the doctor and he told me just to give her Tylenol and Motrin. I put her to bed with a very light shirt and blanket, ran the humidifier next to her bed, and turned down the heat so it would be cool in our room. This morning when Ally woke up, I took her temperature and it was 100.1! I was so relieved. I gave her all of her medicines, fed her and put her down for a nap. She slept for a while and when she woke up I checked her temperature again. It was normal. She even looked a ton better. Her eyes looked bright and cheery again. She played in her gym for a good amount of time, smiling and looking for her sister. She is still needing alot of sleep today, but I am so relieved at how well she is doing. She is no longer a hot potato and when I give her kisses, my lips don't burn. Emily keeps telling me to make Ally a couch bed. She has done really well with me having to devote most of my time and attention to Ally the last two days. If the weather was a bit warmer I would reward her with a trip to the park. Hopefully a Starbucks milk will be enough. (If you don't know the story about Starbucks milk, my mom works at Starbucks and she always buys Emily a milk from there. They sell an organic milk that has added vanilla flavoring and Emily loves it. She can drink the whole thing in a few short seconds. Whenever I tell her we are going to see Grandma, she always asks for Starbucks milk so it is a great treat/bribe.) I can't wait to have a backyard to let Emily run around in. Before we know it, Ally May is going to be right behind her!

Ally May cont.

I took Ally to the doctor this afternoon and the doctor checked her over. Ally has two ear infections and a bright red throat. Her fever keeps going up and down but it hasn't gone away. She got a perscription which should make her fever go down alot and should also heal her throat and ears. I feel so bad for Ally but I am glad that we know what is wrong and can fix it. Ally's smile always brightens up my day and not seeing it makes me sad. I just want to cuddle her up and take away all her pain. I guess I will have to make due with watching her sleep peacefully and slowly get better.
Emily had a great time at the doctor's office. Of course she usually does well when we are not there for her. She is always curious to see what the doctor is doing but I hope she never tries to imitate him. They gave Emily a sour lollipop as we were walking out and Emily had a great time licking it for the next two hours. Of course she didn't want to eat dinner after that.