Whew!!

The first thing I want to say is Thank You, Lord!!

Thank You for loving us, forgiving us, providing for us, and protecting us.

It has been a rough few days in our little world, but once again, God has been with us through everything. I am exhausted, drained, but most of all, I'm thankful!

This past weekend we had a great time at the Read Reunion (or "meryoonyun", as Abigail called it!)!! She got to play with lots of her cousins and aunts and uncles, and of course, PawPaw Jerry! We enjoyed visiting and catching up, eating and laughing with everyone! It was a busy but fun weekend, and we're looking forward to next year already!!

And then we got home Sunday afternoon. It was 103.5 outside, and 94.3 in our living room.

Yep, the A/C went out.

I can't begin to tell you how hot it is in and around my body when it's 103.5 outside. YIKES!!!

Since no one wants to fix air conditioners (much less answer their phones) on a Sunday evening, we made do. Thankfully, we had one window unit for our bedroom, and Nana and PawPaw let us borrow theirs for the living room until we could come up with a more permanent solution.

Monday morning, the A/C man came and confirmed what we already suspected--the outside unit was shot. Fried. No good. Not fixable. Lovely.

Trying to make the best of a not-so-great situation, we began to get ready for a trip to Lake Charles for another doctor's appointment for Julianne.

Unfortunately for me, that included feeding Hopper some scraps.

Now, those of you who know me well (or know me any at all) know that I am not nearly as graceful as my Granny always wanted me to be. Long story short, I sort of fell off the back steps. But before I did that, I slammed into the side of the house a few times trying to catch myself. (Didn't work.) I didn't land on my belly, but I'm pretty sure Miss Priss was a tad shaken up in there. We went on to the doctor that afternoon at 1:00 for my regular appointment. She fussed at me for not coming in earlier, but then told me to monitor her movements and call if there were any changes or problems. When she didn't move for several hours Monday night and again Tuesday morning, I got pretty worried. We headed back to Lake Charles yesterday morning, and they put me on a monitor at the hospital for a few hours to make sure everything was okay. Everything looked good and she finally started moving like normal again--Praise the Lord!!

I guess she figured she'd give me a scare like I did to her on Monday. Little Stinker!!

It has been a very emotional few days here, and we've all been pretty stressed out, but we're so thankful that our littlest princess is just fine in there! Now, if she'll continue to cooperate, we'll get to meet her on July 11th!!

Making Room for Baby!

What a busy weekend we've had--and it's only the first in a series of several!!

We spent the better part of the weekend getting ready for what has apparently become our annual Memorial Day Picnic! We had over 30 people here for lunch yesterday and had a wonderful time! We are so blessed to have such a big, wonderful family! A big thanks to all who attended--it was a great day!!

We were also able to do some work in the girls' room this weekend to get it ready for Little Sister! It's a tad "full" in there, but we'll make it work for now! Abigail was pretty excited about her "new room", although it was hard to get furniture rearranged with her underfoot! She rediscovered some of her "favorite" toys that she hadn't seen in awhile, and decided to play with every last one of them. Here are a few pics of the redesigned room. Still have to hang pictures and stuff, but that's stuff I can do by myself!

We're waiting to "move" some of the toys out when Miss Priss isn't around. That's one battle I'm not willing to fight with her here.

It's not perfect, but it'll do for now. Now if I can rest up for a few days, we'll be all ready for the Read Reunion this weekend! Looking forward to good food and good times with the fam!!

Nesting...

Can anybody tell me why the "nesting phase" comes at the END of pregnancy??? I don't know about you, but I think that's completely backwards. It should hit at the beginning, when you're still able to do stuff, instead of when you're so big and uncomfortable that breathing is a challenge. When I take a notion to do something, I want to do it NOW, and not wait on someone else to help or do it for me. Patience is not one of my stronger virtues...

Since Julianne and Abigail will be sharing a room, at least for awhile, we're having to make room in the bedroom for 2 princesses...not an easy challenge when the first one has already staked her claim!! Space is somewhat at a premium, so we're having to be creative in the furniture placement. Right now, the room basically just looks like a bomb went off in there. And since Justin's at work and I've been forbidden to move furniture (I know, I know.), I can't do much about it right now. Hopefully when he and MyMy get here tomorrow, we can restore a little order.

And then we can get down all of the clothes and "baby stuff" out of the shed, so the fun can really begin! I can't believe that Abigail wore those teeny tiny clothes, and I really can't believe that we're gonna have such a big girl and such a little girl soon! In about 6 weeks, more or less, Miss Julianne will be here!! I'm so anxious to see what she will look like and what her little personality will be! It won't be much longer now!!

Still Here...Barely!

Sorry for not posting in awhile--we've been pretty busy lately, with no signs of things letting up anytime soon!! I guess this is just a small taste of the next 18-ish years!

This weekend, Granny Brown and I traveled to Ruston (along with the rest of the fam) to see MyMy graduate again--this time with her Masters of Science! We are so proud of her!! She has worked long and hard for this, and she's done a great job! We also got to celebrate Courtney's graduation from ULM later that evening. We're very proud of Aunt Courtney, too!!

And I can't begin to tell you how excited Abigail and I are that MyMy will be home for the summer before she heads off to learn more stuff in Oklahoma. I don't even want to think about her leaving in the fall, so we'll just focus on the summer for now...

Abigail has been working hard on her potty-training lately, and she's doing pretty well overall. She can totally go to the potty all by herself (for the most part), but she sometimes just doesn't want to stop what she's doing and take care of her business. She will have really good days and then not-so-good days. She is such a mess, though, and usually keeps us laughing at the crazy things she says! Right now, she's sitting in her Daddy's lap watching cartoons. Every now and then, she looks up at him and says, "Dad, you're killing me." Pretty sure she's getting that from me, 'cause I've been telling her that a lot lately...You really gotta watch what you say around that kid!! You can bet that she's gonna repeat it at some point or another!!

It won't be much longer until our newest Princess joins us! As of now, the plan is to induce on July 11, if she doesn't decide to come before then. We had another checkup today, and things are looking good. She is moving and wiggling around in there as I type! She is very active and is growing right on schedule! I've had some minor contractions, but they seem to be a result of me doing things I probably shouldn't be doing anymore. It's just different the second time, since I don't have the luxury of resting whenever I want. I'm not complaining though, it's just part of it!! I'm getting into the "nesting phase" I think, so we'll soon be ready for her arrival!! Did I mention that we're getting excited?!

It seems like there's something going on every weekend for the next several weeks until she gets here! Just hope I can get everything done before then!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Just want to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all of the special women in our lives!

From Moms to Sisters, to Aunts and Cousins, Family Members and Friends, we are so blessed to have such wonderful examples of selflessness and love!

I want to wish a very Happy Mother's Day to my Momma in Heaven. I miss you everyday, but Mother's Day is not as sad as it would be if I had never had you as a Momma. Thank you for all you gave, for all you taught me, and for loving me always, no matter what. I can't wait for that first hug when I see you again--it's gonna be a good 'un!

And I want to say a special thank you my sweet husband--I wouldn't be a Momma without you!!

Thank you for giving me the most precious gifts I could ever have. I love you forever!

The best Mother's Day gift in the world--a beautiful, healthy, smart little girl!

And next year, my lap will still be full!

Happy Mother's Day to all, with love from the Slaydons!

Overheard Today in a Wal-Mart Bathroom Stall...

As you may know, we are rockin' and rollin' with the potty training around this house, and no, I'm not talking about Justin...:)

Abigail has been doing well overall, with the (hopefully) typical good and not-so-good days.

Today, however, was the BEST day!!

We went to town today, and that's always kind of an adventure, especially with Momma getting bigger and more awkward! One of my biggest fears about potty training was using public toilets. I tend to avoid them at all costs myself, so I wasn't sure how I'd do taking my kid to them. But you do what you gotta do! We utilized the bathroom in Wal-Mart approximately 3 times in what should have been a relatively quick trip, but I just had to write down part of our little adventure so that I could remind someone of it when she gets a little older...:)

Apparently we weren't the only ones having potty issues, because all three times that we went to the bathroom, the same pair of shoes were parked in the next stall. (I hope they weren't dead--just thought of that.) On our last visit, what was to be a #2 situation, my child decided to talk:

Abigail: "Momma, are you a deer?"

Me: "No, honey. Now let's put some poop in the potty so we can finish shopping."

Abigail: "Are you a Momma deer?"

Me: "Yes, baby, I sure am. Are you gonna poop?"

Abigail: "I'm a grouchy baby deer."

Me: (silent hysterical laughter as I try not to fall on the dirty bathroom floor)

Abigail: "I'm a grouchy baby Abigail deer, Momma!"

Me: "Okay, honey. You sure are! Now let's poop in the potty, okay?"

Abigail: "I like for you to kill the deer, Momma. I love deer. I love to pet them in the woods."

Me: (hyperventilating) "You done? Okay, let's go!" (As I jerk her off the pot and run out the door. )

Pretty sure our neighbor will never forget her trip to WM today!!

I love my kid!! (And in case you didn't catch it, today was our first day with NO accidents!!)

Way to go, Abigail!! Momma is SO proud of you!!!

Campin'!

Here are a few pics from our mini-camping trip this weekend!

It was Abigail's very first time to go "to camping", and she had a great time!!

She loved her Princess sleeping bag, aka "camping bag", and actually slept pretty good.
Going to the potty was interesting, but I'm glad that she didn't refuse to go in the "camp potty", since we left her potty chair at home!

Getting ready to roast some weenies!!

"Cheeeeeese!"

Snuggled in for the night!

Goin' on a hike!

When you're a Princess, you don't actually have to do the hiking yourself.

You have servants for that.

It was a fun time, and we'll definitely do it again. But not while Abigail's potty training and Momma's 7 months pregnant. Definitely not then. Lesson learned. :)

Hopefully, tomorrow we'll get to work on a fun little family project...stay tuned for pics!!