Fireworks minus Abigail

I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday. I also hope you took some time to stop and think about all of the men and women, both past and present, who have scarificed so much to protect life as we know it. We have been so busy around here the last few days: Wed. night--my family; Thurs. night--Ran's family; Fri. night--Mercy Me concert; Sat morn/early pm--Ran's fam again; Sat night--my fam again. So today we are TAKING A MUCH NEEDED BREAK! Why all the running around? Well it was all to celebrate the life of my husband. He turned 33 Thursday! Yesterday we went over to his mom and dad's house for lunch and ice cream. When it came time for us to leave, Abigail started her usual crying and pity party. We got out to the car and she was crying "I don't want to go! I want to stay with Nonna!" Here comes the surprising part--I think Donna put something in the ice cream b/c...Ran and I looked at each other and said, "Fine, stay." So Abigial got out, got all of her animals and blankets, and came over to kiss Emma goodbye. She leaned over and as she cried she said, "I will miss my sister. Emma, I will see you in the morning." and she kissed her on the cheek. I said, "Now, we are not coming back. If you start crying you will have to stay. Mommy, Daddy and Emma are going to eat with Mimi and Grandad. Are you sure you don't want to go?" With tears in her eyes she turned down the corner of her mouth and said, "No, I am going to stay with Nonna." With that, I left my 3 year old daughter alone for the first time. My heart was aching, as a matter of fact, it was breaking. I have always known that this day would come. She would grow up and start making her own decisions. She would not always want to be with me, but I had hoped that it would be a little farther down the road. The ride home was so quiet, naptime was unbelievably easy and dinner time was a cakewalk. I MISSED HER THE ENTIRE TIME! I hate to admit it, but I didn't really enjoy the evening b/c I was constantly wondering what she was doing/thinking/eating...Ambrey and Donna brought her home after the fireworks and waited for us to get home--long story. She called us on the way home and guess who she wanted to talk to...me, no; Ran, NO; my mom or dad, NO--EMMA!!! She wanted to know where Emma was and what she was doing. Her biggest guestion was "Are you coming home, Emma?"

So I am sure you are wondering what was Emma doing thru all of this? Well...first and foremost, she WAS NOT leaving her momma--good girl Emma Cate :)! When we pulled away she just wanted to know what Abigail was doing. Then I told her it would just be Me, her and Daddy...She got the biggest smile on her face. I asked her many times throughout the night if she missed Abigail--sometimes she said yes, but mostly she said no. She said she liked all of the attention.

My little girls are growing up! Maybe it is time to have another one?



NOT!!!!





P.S. The only reason I said she could stay with Donna was b/c I didn't think she would do it. I thought once she saw we were leaving she would change her mind. Boy did she call my bluff! Guess we are going to have to reevaluate our parenting techniques with this one!

Summertime

I am officially settling in to my "summertime" role of mom, nurse, counselor, maid, drycleaner, chef, entertainment specialist, judge, jury and jailguard, groundskeeper, and anything else you might imagine. And I am loving it. Now I have to admit that it is a BIG change from dealing with 17 and 18 yr-olds all day, and those first few days were rather difficult, but we are now getting into a groove and things are going well. (Props to all those stay-at-home moms out there. No one really gives you the credit you deserve.)
Abigail has learned the power of suggestion over the past few weeks. She will ask me a question, "Momma? Can I have some chocolate milk?" Which is immediately followed by this statement "Say yes Momma" or she might ask me, "Momma? Can I jump on your bed? Say sure, Abigail" It is rather humorous to hear this coming from her little country lips. I just wonder how she comes up with this stuff sometimes. At what point did her little brain say, "Just tell them what you want them to say and they will say it." We went to mother's house to swim today. Emma clung to the ladder much of the time and Abigail clung to me. Neither one of them likes to go under, but today Emma got up enough courage and she jumped off the ladder a little to hard and totally went under. She came up and I helped her to the side and she said "Wow, that was rough. I almost died!" Gotta love my little drama queens.

Beach and other things

Well, it happened again. I fell off the blogging wagon. I just got so busy with work and life that I haven't been keeping things up to date. Sorry :(!

This week we have been at the beach with PopPop, Nana, Jaime, Jason, Lauren-Jason's girlfriend, Timmy and Brittney-Timmy's girlfriend. The girls are old enough now that the trip down seemed like it would never end. Emma kept asking are we still going to the beach momma? I think she thought we had changed our mind. When we were about an hour away she finally said, "I want to turn around and go back home." Bless her, she just has to have her sleep. And if her bootie was as tired as mine, I am sure that didn't help the situation. Once we were here, she was thrilled. We have built sand castles, picked up shells, floated in the ocean and frozen to death in the pool. Yesterday she told me, I am tired of the beach mommy. SO instead of doing the beach thing we went to the zoo. Last night, she said she was ready to go home. I think she just misses her bed. We have been sleeping together and every night she says "MOMMA! MOVE OVER!! I CAN'T SLEEP WITH YOU TOUCHING ME!"

Abigail made the trip down just fine. You know she never misses a beat. At 18months she slept 2 hours of the 7 hour trip and at 2 1/2 she didn't bat an eye and at 3 she was going strong the entire time. She hasn't missed a step on the beach either. She cries every day when I tell her she has to come up for lunch. And demands that she doesn't need a nap--and then sleeps for 3 hours each time.

Uncle Timmy has taught them to love Ron Dupert(aka Mt. Dew)...they had never had it until the trip and PopPop gave them some at the zoo, so now they keep asking for Ron Dupert. They are basking in all of the attention they have been recieving. The first couple of days they had 5 young 20 somethings to play with---great for mom and dad to get some relaxation. I think Abigail has aged about 14 years being around all these young girls. Last night she informed me that she needed some make-up. So I got her some clear lip gloss, which she slathered all over her mouth and then proceeded to stick out her lips like Angelina Jolie :)!

Sad that the time here is coming to an end, but will also be glad to get everyone back on schedule, in their own beds and NO SAND in our hair.

Pacee Update, Etc.

1 week later and still no tears about the pacees. There have been several discussions and everynight before Emma Catherine goes to sleep she tells me how much she loved her pacee..but thankfully no tears. Abigail has only mentioned it a couple of times during the day when she wasn't feeling well, but no tears. I am so proud. If you had asked me 1 month ago who would be the most upset about it, I would have said Abigail, but once again she proved me wrong. Emma mentioned it to Donna on Monday and she told her that she was a big girl now and Emma told her that she really wasn't that big. Emma baby, just keep thinking that way. Momma never wants to you that big.

Pray for Us!

Just wanted to ask for prayer. Right now the devil is really after us here in the Reding household. We have been fighting sicknesses for last month, actually 3 if you count when the girls actually started getting sick. First me, then Ran, now the girls. We have also really been struggling with Abigail the past few weeks. She is so DETERMINED to do things her way. It is so hard to be a parent! I want her to be a respectful and obedient little girl, but it isn't easy when she has a mind of her own and thinks like a 16 year old sometimes! Also, there has just been so much stress that things have been strained between me and Ran. It just seems as though the devil is working overtime. As I am sure you can tell, I am just down and feeling defeated right now. Pray for me...Ask God to show me what to do and the wisdom to know the difference!

Carnival Party