I’ll call this “Early Morning Blog.” It’s 545am, everything is quiet. This is the third time in the last 2 weeks that Abby has slept from 11p-515a. As I told Chris, the difference from the first child to the third is that with Maggie, I might have been up a few times in the night, worried that she was sleeping so long. With Abby, my head hits the pillow and I’m out until she is fully awake and screaming for food. With Maggie, I would have fed her and then gone back to bed, excited that she slept so long,but greedy enough to still want more. With Abby, it’s 545 and I’m excited to be up with no one to bother me while I type a blog entry. Why bother going back to bed if you know you’ll be up in less than an hour anyway?

Besides, this is summer vacation and we’re busier than during the school year – there’s a lot to be done today!I actually remarked to Chris the other day that I couldn’t believe that the summer could be somuch busier than the school year. And his response won’t surprise you – “I know, Isn’t it great? Look at everything we’re getting done!”

One reason this week is busy is that Maggie is in “Vacation Bible School” this week, every day from 9-12. She was thrilled to see that her teacher for the week would be her preschool teacher from last year, Mrs Borland. The theme is SAINTS. So far I’ve been told that a Saint is a Hero, and that if you do good deeds, you, too, can be a Saint. One of the songs she’s been singing is to the tune of “B-I-N-G-O” but of course, it’s “S-A-I-N-T, a Saint is a true HERO!”

While Maggie has loved every minute of Bible School, Katherine wasn’t so sure the first day - she missed Maggie too much. I took her to the library for Storytime to distract her, but she still asked about 4 times in 3 hours when Maggie would come home. And when the car pulled into the driveway, a casual observer might have thought they been separated for a month, instead of just a morning. Maggie jumped from the car shouting “Katherine, I missed you!” And Katherine ran to her shrieking in excitement. However, by Wednesday, Katherine figured out that no Maggie meant no sharing. And she did not want Maggie to come home! She even set up a tea party for “Mommy, Daddy, and Katherine, not Maggie” Poor middle child, she is just enjoying the attention. I think she’ll love it when Maggie goes to school all day in fall.

(funny sidenote, when Chris and I sat for the tea party, I asked what kind of tea we were having. She told us that Mommy had Lemonade and Daddy had Wine. This is a girl who pays attention and knows what her parents like!)

Katherine is full of funny things to say. Driving past Kopp’s last week, Maggie read the sign that the flavor of the day was “Cookies-n-cream” Maggie asked if we could stop because “I LOOOOOOVE Cookies-n-cream” Katherine piped up “I just want the cookies, I don’t like the cream!”

Actually, Maggie might be eating more than the usual amount of Ice Cream for the next few days as she is on a “soft foods diet.” She lost her first tooth yesterday. And by lost, I really mean – had it pulled by the dentist. We’ve been watching her front upper tooth for some time – as she has klutz genes from both sides of the family and has fallen on her front teeth more times than I can count. After a tooth injury in November, this particular tooth was quite loose and the dentist basically said it was dead and would fall out easily as the permanent tooth

moved into position and started pushing on this baby tooth. Maggie’s been quite proud of her loose tooth, and many days would tell us it felt even looser than the day before. But it was nowhere near falling out.

About 3 weeks ago, we noticed a growth of tissue on her gumline near this tooth. I happened to be at the Doctor for Abby and asked him what he thought of it and he referred us to an ENT. Chris and I had been planning to call the dentist, but we followed the advice and she saw the ENT. After 2 visits with no real change, the ENT sent us to the dentist. Chris took her yesterday and Dr Fred took an x-ray and poked a bit and declared it an abscess. If there had been any root to work with he might have done a root canal, but since the tooth had been injured so many times and the root was all but gone, he decided it would be best to just pull it out.

Now, honestly, I’m glad I was home waiting for the new stove to be delivered, as I’m not sure I would have handled this very well. But there is a small part of me that wishes I had been there. Apparently they gave her some nitrous oxide to inhale before numbing her mouth with Novacaine. (I had no idea anyone used this – especially on children, but Chris was not surprised as he used to have it at his dentist as a child.) The gas had the desired effect of relaxation, but also turned her into a chatterbox. Chris said she would NOT stop talking. Even though they gave her a large wad of gauze to bite on (to prevent biting herself) she still continued to talk non-stop even through the guaze. Dr Fred even said to Chris, “They usually can’t talk with guaze in their mouths, that’s why we give it to them” Nope, not MY daughter – she was loopy, giggly, and overly talkative. I can’t IMAGINE where she got THAT trait! I think I would have enjoyed seeing her all goofy!

So anyway – the tooth was pulled and she was very brave – focused on the Tooth Fairy coming and not the idea that her tooth was being pulled. She chose a book about the Tooth Fairy at the library last week, so it’s been a topic of discussion anyway. And now she has a hole in her smile. She told me as she gazed in the mirror last night, “Mommy, now I look like a Grown-Up Kid!” The tooth Fairy left a dollar under her pillow last night, so I’m waiting to see her reaction to that!

So, we’re leaning about Saints, having tea parties, losing teeth, buying/installing a new stove and Oh yeah, Chris also painted the garage this week - No, not the OUTSIDE, the inside. He patched cracks/nail holes in the drywall, and painted all the walls of the garage. We wouldn’t want to waste any time or just sit and relax!

Abby’s still here too. She’s 8 weeks and perfect! She is starting to outgrow her 0-3 month clothes so I'm anxious to learn at her check up next week, just how big is she? She is smiling a lot now – which is fun for me, but more so fun for Maggie and Katherine – they LOVE to make her smile. She is making some noises too – which the girls enjoy interpreting “Mommy, I think Abby is saying………she loves her big sister” (Katherine) or “………She wants to go in her swing!” (Maggie)

Never a dull moment in this family, and really, I wouldn’t have it any other way!

(note, it is 905, who knew it could take more than 3 hours for one blog post?)