Last Sunday night, I was putting my shoes away when I stepped in something wet. I thought maybe Molly peed but it didn't smell like it. We had a babysitter so I thought maybe the kids were in there and spilled something. Monday morning we woke up to visibly soaking wet carpet all in the closet. Come to find out, the hose on our washing machine was leaking and our laundry room backs up to our closet. Darren had to go to work, so I spent an hour dragging everything off the floor of the closet into our bedroom. We have a walk-in closet and we could still walk in there so I don't know how we had so much stuff. Darren bowls with a carpet guy, so he came Thursday to install carpet. It's a little different than our current carpet but whenever we sell this house or whenever we get money, we plan on replacing this carpet anyway...too many stains and an iron burn from Becca. It's pretty thin pad too and just doesn't look great anymore. Instead of just putting everything back, I decided to really organize, clean out, etc. With everything else, I haven't had time to do everything, so I've been sleeping with Becca and Darren's been sleeping on the couch until I got things cleared off the bed. Luckily, all we had to do was replace the hose which we happened to have one from our old washer so that part didn't cost us anything. Now our room is almost back to normal and things are getting organized; now how long will it stay that way?

Becca occasionally gets bloody noses. She has allergies and I figure it's the cold, dry air that causes them. They're never too bad and they're not pouring out either. Sunday, we were on our way from church to lunch. As I was turning left to get to Sonic, she says, "Mom, my nose is bleeding." Being the wonderful mother I am, I was trying to get parked so I could help her with her nose, plus I wasn't in any hurry knowing it wasn't too bad. When I parked at Sonic and reached back to hand her a kleenex, I noticed blood all over her dress. This time, she had a real bleeder. I guess I kinda gasped because she said, "I'm sorry mommy" I told her it was okay and that I was sorry I didn't get a kleenex faster. I thought that was a little odd but figured one bloody nose isn't too strange. In the middle of the night last night, I heard Becca moving and say, "Mommy, my nose is bleeding." It wasn't quite as bad but still coming out pretty fast. Not only is it unusual to have it pouring out, but it's unusual to have them this often. If she has another one soon, I may have to see if there's something we can do.

Barrett is becoming a real talker. He just talks all the time. He'll tap you, point to something and jibber jabber. Then he wants you to tell him what he's pointing to. He's really wanting to know what everything is. He now says, 'mama', 'dada', 'ball'(kinda sounds like bowl with his mouth in a perfect circle), and 'sissy'(kinda sounds like sis). He also does the sounds for monkey, lion, dog and elephant. It's amazing how quick they pick things up. Before I know it, he'll start talking. I love this age because they are truly a joy to be around. He's learning new things and he just enjoys life.

End of summer

My wonderful friend and I have had a free babysitting swap going on for awhile. During the summer, we decided we needed to keep it going so I typically dropped the kids at her house on Mondays and they came to our house on Thursdays. Becca has spent a lot of time at their house on those days and other events as well. A couple of weeks ago, the mom called me while I was working at the church to tell me Becca's eye was all swollen and wondered if she had pink eye. We had just gotten back from the lake so I figured anything is possible. It was either that or the cat. So, I went to pick the kids up and it did look pretty bad. It was red, puffy, swollen, watery, etc...just in one eye. After we were home a little bit, it was getting better, so we gave her some benadryl and soon it was gone. So it seems, Becca is taking after her daddy and is allergic to cats. It was verified a few days later when she went to their house and Becca got ahold of the cat again and the same thing happened. I heard they could develop allergies but it's so weird because she's been at their house so much and had no problems. But, I know she has allergies, I'm just not yet sure what she's allergic to...if she takes after her daddy, it will be everything outside....I wonder when they get the allergy test...

Another of her friends she talks about all the time was a boy I used to watch half days when he was around 2. They were also in the same preschool class last year. Becca has wanted to play with him all summer and I finally called his mom who told me he's been talking about her all summer too. So, they finally got together last Friday to hang out for a little while. The day before Becca told me, "I need to tell him that I'm going to marry him." When I told his mom, she said he says the same thing. At least they're in aggreement about it and one's not chasing the other. She also told me before they came over that he said, "Mom, I've just begun living today." She asked him why. He said, "Because I get to see Becca today." Is that not the cutest thing? They had fun playing together. These are some pictures of them when he was playing the Wii. Becca's first day of kindergarten was today. I was definitely having mixed emotions about it. The fact that she is getting older is difficult, however, having time to do a few more things and not have to worry about keeping her entertained is appealing too. She gets on the bus about 6:45, which, since I'm up, will make me go for a walk. Then she gets off the bus around 2:30 or 2:45; better than last year when I had to be done with errands by 11:15 to get her off the bus. She had told me she wanted me to take her on the first day. So, I got up around 5:45 to make her favorite muffins and get a shower before I woke her up at 6:15. She is not a morning person, so I need to give her a little more time to wake up. We were ready to go around 6:50 and as we were walking out the door, I heard the school bus down the street. She said she still wanted me to take her; then she said she wanted to ride the bus. As she was walking down to the end of the driveway (they pick her up and drop her off in front of the house) she said, "I'm not sure what I want to do." I told her since the bus was here, she should go ahead and get on but I would still take her if she really wanted me to. She got on the bus and I don't think she even looked back to wave. I'm not sure what time they'll normally get home, but because it was the first day and because the bus drivers routes were all mixed up, Becca didn't get home until 3:45 and she gets out of school at 2:15...I know last year, the bus was in our neighborhood at 2:30. So, we'll see what happens tomorrow. Becca had a good day. She said she went to art, had flower cookies from the teacher that said, 'yes', 'no', and 'maybe', and played outside. I guess those were her highlights. She said she only knew 1 kid in her class but I'm sure she'll be making new friends soon. She came home with a big poster for us to fill out about her interests, favorite things, family, etc...homework the first day, but it's fun.