Insulted By the Publix Bag Boy

Tonight I went grocery shopping by myself. To me, this is like going for an hour long massage at a swanky spa. I love to go to Publix at night when there are hardly any shoppers and best of all...NO KIDS. Don't take me wrong, I love to go with my kids places. Just not to the grocery store. I can't concentrate on my list and coupons with them there. They do like to help out, but it always ends with someone running over my heels with a grocery cart or me getting to the car with a few unpaid items that Caleb has stashed beneath his feet in the car part of the cart.

The checkout guy was a younger guy that I know from my very frequent visits to the store. He jokingly asked me if I got the senior citizen discount since it was Wednesday. I laughed and said that it wasn't fair that the seniors got a discount when we young people have all of the mouths to feed. The guy that was bagging the groceries was just listening and when we were walking out to the car he says, "That's great that you consider yourself still young!" Um...excuse me? Consider? I know I am not 18 anymore, but pulease!! Thirty four isn't exactly considered geriatric. He then starting rattling off about age being just a number, etc. Seriously...that's what you say to grandparents that are turning 80ish! I guess I do remember a time when I thought that 30 was old...funny how that seems young to me now:)

Caleb vs. The Curb

On the way into the library today, Caleb tripped and fell mouth first into the curb. I shudder thinking back about it. When I got to him, there was blood everywhere and I couldn't really tell what was bleeding. Then I saw the tooth...root and all. It was awful!

Thankfully our dentist was able to see Caleb right away and determined by xray that his permanent teeth were safe. He also didn't need any stitches in his lip. There is no need to do anything because he will start losing his baby teeth in a year or so anyway. It was the best case scenario, really. On a positive note, he is excited that the tooth fairy is coming to see him tonight:)

Levi is 6 and has still never lost a tooth. He is extremely jealous that now Caleb has a tooth missing. I heard him ask Caleb if he could see the hole in his mouth and then said that he wished the tooth fairy was going to come see him. Caleb said, "You just have to run and fall on the curb and then your tooth will come out!"

Date With My Valentine

Just a quick update on Mavala. The stuff is nasty...and it's working:) Aaron won't even eat with his hands. He has been asking for a fork for everything, even chicken fingers. This is a bonus that I had not considered!

Caleb is still accidentally putting his thumb in his mouth. I feel bad for him, but there's no turning back now! Watch out baby girl...you are next!

Christian and I went out for Valentine's Day a bit early. He wouldn't tell me where we were going and he invited another couple from church to go with us. I knew that we were going to dinner at a new Asian place that just opened up the road (awesome by the way!) but didn't know where we were going after that. He mentioned something about Appling and not dressing up and I started to get nervous. I sent my friend a text that said, "I'm starting to think that we are doing something redneck...don't dress up." Her reply? "I won't wear my stilettos!"

We ended up at the Appling Opry. Did you even know there was such a thing? It was GREAT! Kiokee Baptist Church bought an old country store in Appling and they use it as a sort of community center. The opry is a ministry of their church. They had a family that was invited from South Carolina that played for the first hour (we only caught the end of their performance), and after that it was a "jam session". It was fabulous. There were people of all ages up there playing.

http://

The next Appling Opry is Saturday, March 12th. I have it marked on my calendar, right next to this....

The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, is coming to the Columbia County Library! I really don't know why...her other book tour cities are BIG cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta. Why she is venturing down to Evans is beyond me, but I'm super excited. I love her cookbook and plan to take my food splattered copy and have her sign it! Word on the streets is that she is going to do a little talk about homeschooling first thing for all of us crazies that are into that sort of thing. I can't wait!

MIA and Operation SFTS

Yesterday I managed to squeeze my post baby finger into my engagement and wedding rings. By lunchtime they were beginning to feel as though I better get them off now or never. I was sitting on the sofa and put them on the table next to me. I forgot about them and when I remembered, they were not where I left them. I just knew who the culprit was....

So...I pulled off the sofa cushions and stuck my hand down in the sides and to my horror found this...

Disgusting! Along with goldfish crackers, pretzels, and the occasional Skittle, I found: 2 hairbows, 2 matchbox cars, 3 pencils, a paper clip, a popcorn kernel, a marker, a stick, one of the nailheads to the trim of the sofa, a long screw, tons of legos, about $1 in change, a headband, a couple of crayons, some unidentifiable objects, and (thank the Lord) my engagement ring. My wedding band is stil MIA.

Sarah just turned 2 and she can hold her pencil the proper way. This is funny to me because it was always such a struggle with the boys to get them to hold their pencil/pen/crayon properly. My boys would be coloring their papers in sunday school with a crayon in a fist while all of the little girls had their crayons perfectly positioned and coloring in the lines. Don't you always love the little girls who tattle on the boys that are "scribbling". Looking down their noses disapprovingly they say, "Mrs. Wahl, he's not coloring in the lines...that's scribble scrabble!"

Girls just develop their fine motor skills before the boys. Why does this freak out parents of boys everywhere? Just give them time....that's all they need! Let boys be boys...they need to run and jump! That's how God made them! Can you tell that I can be quite passionate about this? :)

Yesterday we began Operation Stop Finger/Thumb Sucking. I have a child (he will remain nameless but is pictured above) that still sucks his finger at night. He also bites his nails so short that they sometimes bleed. The picture doesn't convey how horrible his fingers look. Caleb is also still sucking his thumb and I feel like it is starting to impair his speech a bit. His teeth are already ruined...hello orthodontist bills! I ordered Mavala Stop, a product that is recommended by many dentists and I have been painting it on their nails. Caleb came downstairs at 5:00 in the morning crying because he stuck his thumb in his mouth and needed to spit. Tonight, I'm going to cover his hand with a sock so that he won't accidentaly do it again. I'm curious to see if this stuff will work!

Aaron and the Sisters

This morning it was Aaron's chore to unload the dishwasher. After he finished, I just happened to open the refridgerator door and there was a big empty bowl in there. When I asked him about it, his reasoning was that it was "the grape bowl". So, it seems reasonable to him that the grape bowl should live in the fridge....even when there are no grapes in it.

The boy is my comic relief.

Today, Rebekah has her 2 month appointment with Dr. Lamberts. I am not looking forward to it. My sweet grandmother will come over to watch all of the other kids so that we don't pick up a really fun stomach virus or the flu while waiting in the waiting room. I kid you not, I had to tell Caleb to stop licking the armrest of the chair while we were waiting one day.

When I announced that Rebekah was going to get shots today, the boys were very concerned. They all asked if they could go to Mama Re's so they wouldn't have to see her cry. So sweet!

This is Sarah's new face that she makes when you ask her to smile for a picture. Isn't she so photogenic? She loves to "tith" her baby sister. (Her lisp cracks me up...) Last night she was reading a book to Rebekah while she was in her swing. I really hope that they get along well. Even though we are best buds now, Katie and I had some tussles that looked like MMA matches. I may still have a scar or two from them. I'm sure that Sarah and Rebekah will have their moments.

For now, I'm enjoying the "titheth".

Photo Dump and Fun News

I finally uploaded most of my pictures to my computer...my battery died when I still had one HUNDRED to go. Procrastinate much? Of course most of them were of Rebekah. I kid you not, I had 27 of the exact same picture with just a few slight variations in expression. At least I have a digital camera. I remember having film developed of Jackson after he was first born. They were all of him sleeping. "Here's one of him sleeping in the swing, here's one of him sleeping in the crib...oh look, here's one of him sleeping in his carseat."

My boys love their baby sister. They love to show her off to everyone. Jackson is great at rocking her to sleep. This comes in handy when it's dinner time and I have male humans all up in my personal space wanting to know when and what we are going to eat and wondering why it is taking so long....

Levi loves to hold Rebekah and give her kisses. She like him, too!

It never ceases to amaze me how a baby can go from this....

to this in 2 seconds!

In other news, my baby sister is engaged! She and Brent are shooting for a July wedding. I'm just so excited about it. He's such a great guy, and on a selfish note, my kids love him. They took a break for a little while last summer, and while I knew that it was the best thing for their relationship, I was sad for my kids because they LOVE Brent. Now he gets to be Uncle Brent:)

Katie and I wanted to cut the cake, but Anna Grace has insisted that we are going to be bridesmaids. That means I have about 6 months to get this post baby bod into pre baby shape. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to turn to Jillian and her 30 Day Shred to do it....boo!

How funny is it that she is going to have 8 ring bearers and 3 flower girls...can't you just see the whole back page of the program devoted to all of the names!

Ring Bearers: William Jackson Wahl, Aaron Christian Wahl, Matthew Levi Wahl, Caleb Mills Wahl, Isaac James Martin, Andrew Pete Martin, Joshua Evan Martin, Elijah William Martin

Flower Girls: Sarah Elizabeth Wahl, Rebekah Clair Wahl, Molly Kate Martin

Just kidding Anna Grace...we don't want you to stress out and have a nervous breakdown on your wedding day!

The soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton. Aren't they cute?

Back By Popular Demand...

I'm back by popular demand...well, maybe one person asked me when I was going to start blogging again:)

Wow! Three months have come and gone since my last post. What have I been doing you ask? Lovin' on this precious thing...

Look! She's even sweet when she cries....

(These are pictures from a few weeks ago. I have approximately 2,000 more that I need to put on the computer. She's actually plumped up a bit more and lost the baby acne:)

Rebekah Claire made her debut November 30, 2010. She weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz. She just completes our family. Funny how you don't know what you want until you have it:) I'm so grateful to the Lord for His blessings.

My friend Serse was there to photograph the birth. I've seen the slide show, but don't have a link to post yet. She did such a great job of capturing the day. My other photographer friend, Michelle Ashe, photographed all 6 of them. Can I just say that she has the patience of Job? Seriously...maybe it was because it was only 2 weeks after Rebekah was born and the hormones were raging, but I almost had a slight out of body experience that day.

Sarah has been the perfect big sister. She hasn't been jealous at all. It actually has been good for her! To say that she has come out of her shell is an understatement. These are blurry, but I had to include these pictures because they are so hilarious. She definitely catches like a girl...

What have the boys been up to? Pulling everything out of the garage and placing it in the yard so that our neighbors will love us even more. (Cue the Sanford and Son theme song) This is their "pirate ship" that they built a few weeks ago. At least this is in our backyard. I kid you not, I drove up to the house one day and realized that in addition to the usual bikes and scooters that usually litter the yard, we had a plastic yellow chair (pictured below) on top of one of the shrubs and a booster seat in one of the flower beds. I honestly don't know how long they had been there.

I wonder why we never get yard of the month?