Ansley Update: July Already???

Is it really July already? How can this be???? Last July I was awaiting my brand new baby girl. Last year I was as big as a house. Last year I was praying that she would be both beautiful and healthy. Last year I was enjoying the last of my paychecks. Last year I was planning on returning to work at Christmas. Last year was...great.

This July is chaotic! LOL Having 4 is hard. I will not sugarcoat it. It is hard. Having 4 all day long during the summer and having a hubby that has put on his coach's hat at 5:30 (most times without coming home) and doesn't put on his daddy/husband cap until 7:15 on a good day is extremely hard. And there were many times he went back on to work after practice, and did not come home until 10 or so. Several times it was like 2am.

Talk about hard. It has been hard. That meant I had to do everything. And on top of it June was a busy month as far as photography, too. I plan to do 0 during July. It's not the sessions that killy you...it's the insanely long editing process that makes me want to kill myself. lol. But I did promote my business quite a bit in May b/c I wanted a lot of business at end of May/beginning of June so that we could go on vacation. I told Kevin I wanted to try to pay for it all with photography money. done :) We leave next week!

So I want to talk about Ansley Elizabeth. Well, I'm trying to instill our little house nickname as "Ansley-cakes." I think that's so sweet and girly and happy sounding. Spencer was called "Spencer-bear" some, but really it never took off. Now "Riley-bug" has been a sure fire winner. He even brought home papers this year, in 1st grade, with his name being "Riley Bug Moore." hahaha! I asked him about it, and he said, "Because that's my middle name." LOL And I said, "No...it's 'Alexander,'" and he said, "Oh. Well that's my other middle name." Ha! So yes, we do say that a lot. When Talan was born, I specifically named him so that we could call him "TJ," and yes, I do sometimes, but I'm the only one....

So I'm hoping "Ansley-cakes" will take off...Oh, and as far as texting goes, I like texting "ae" for her name. So cute!!!!

Oh yeah...Ansley...she is SOOOOO girly! I can't believe it! Her little squeals are soooooo girly!!!! I love it!!!! All of her little noises are girly now!!!! They are less "baby" and just flat out "girly!" I'm in heaven! She is wonderful. She is a breath of fresh air. She is pure joy to my heart. Seriously. She is pure joy. She is full of complete joy! Her spirit is so full of life and happiness. I cannot really explain it. She is so content, so confident, so...aware that we love her so much. It's just written all over her. Pure Joy. She thinks that her brothers are the best thing since sliced bread, and she just hugs on them with her little short arms... :) She also smacks at them in the face when she doesn't want them and I'm holding her. LOL She wakes me up by pulling my hair [of course] and smacking me in the face [why not] but the sweetest thing in the world that the boys never did was wake me up also by hugging me. She puts her face on mine, cheek to cheek, and just holds me tight around my head/neck, as I begin to wake up. All the while with her paci in her mouth. It still amazes me how she just gets one and plops it right in. Yes, she has been doing that for months but it is so so sooooo cute! She is the only one that has taken a paci, so I do find it a little bit extra adorable.

Because she sleeps in our bed, it has put me in a pickle at naptime. Now she wakes up and can obviously crawl right off. And she doesn't wake up crying. So I really have to listen for her on the monitor. She will talk....:)))))

I have walked in on her many times lying awake in the bed, paci in her mouth, just hanging out...She is just sooooo cute!!!! I just cannot tell you how in love with her I am. My heart just bursts inside and I can't really express it!

She has amazing persistence. Last Monday was the first time she stood up all on her own without pulling up--just straight up from the ground without touching anything--and she was so excited she was cackling in her very girly voice and waving her hands all around, so very excited!!!! She gets really fired up! :) I didn't notice until she made such a commotion over herself! LOL Then she did it again, but didn't last as long. She keeps doing it. Tonight she did it like 10 times in a row. Oh and she loves that praise. She LOVES it. LOVES it!!! She has a great sense of humor, and we are so much like two peas in a pod and all I have to do is look at her a certain way and she will just crack up. That big wide smile behind that paci. :))))

Let me see...what else does she do? She recently mastered the sippy cup. Yes, she began holding her own bottle when I took that trip to Hawaii in May. I sat her in the stroller and reclined her just right to where it was a little easier on her. Still she's only done it like 5 or less times in her whole life. Mommy and daddy happily hold her bottle for her because she is only a baby once! So now she does eat her Graduates and drink her juice all by herself. She loves it! She is such an eater. She will eat anything we eat, and would way rather eat our food than baby food. Kevin just sticks a piece of pizza up to her mouth and she bites a piece right off. No joke. He's not right. lol

She is of course still in the she-drops-it-you-pick-it-up phase, too. That's kinda cute...kinda not...lol. She has gotten to where she pulls out her hairbow after I put it in. Now she doesn't know what she is messing with there!!! That is not compromisable, as she is finding out. She can take it out 101 times, I will put it back in 102! She understands "No," and that little "Eh!" when she tries to put something in her mouth. What do I mean by tries...does, actually. She says, "Eh." nonchalantly back to us. hahahaha! When Talan naps on the couch, she goes over and over and over again to him to wake him up. She loves him so much :) I can bring her back, and she'll go right back. She's sneaky. And when I see her round that corner, I'll say, "Ansley!" and she will look back with the biggest grin in the world, and do her little laugh at me. She knows she's got me. :)

I have been blessed beyond belief with this child. Yes, the others are true blessings as well. But there's always something about knowing it's your last, and just allowing yourself to be overcome, since you're no longer trying to impress anyone or comparing milestones...it's really about pure joy and enjoying life together. And yeah, it's a little chaotic around here. And it's all good :)

I have already ordered 2 birthday outfits for her. One from an etsy shop, one from Gap. I don't know what to do with them. I want her pictures in them, and then I also want her in them at her little party. What to do, what to do...

Oh. And it was told to me that I had to return to teaching this year. So no option for taking a 2nd year off after all. I'll deal with it; I'll live. But there have been a lot of changes taking place, and I'm not happy with any of them. So I'm totally bummed out with work right now. :(

Too Busy

Just a note to say that I have been overrun by photography stuff. Hope to blog sometime soon. Ansley is saying "Oh!" with 2 syllables. "O-oh!" in the cutest little girl voice in the world! She is pulling up and letting go [and falling]. She loves to take steps while you are holding onto her.

Riley made All-Stars! Yeah!!! He should have made it last year, but that's another story. He still needs to have his trigger thumb surgery re-done, but he's catching pretty well nonetheless. Just hard to open and close that glove at times. He's an excellent hitter. :)

Poor Spencer didn't make it this year. He moved up to kid-pitch, and moved up to a bigger bat, and the last several games hardly even swung. The pitches were just too hard and fast for him to line up and swing. I felt so bad for him. He got into trouble quite a bit for not swinging. I told him I didn't care if he hit the ball or not, he better swing. He ran a lot of laps for me. LOL. But after we talked, he let it out that it was less embarassing for him to not swing at all than to swing and miss. He just lost all confidence in his hitting, which broke my heart. Kevin stopped pitching with him in the yard long ago because he hits too hard and too far. So, sadly, Kevin never practiced at all with him as far as hitting goes this season. And he needed it. Especially this year, when the pitcher tries to throw it as hard as he can, so that they don't hit it. I practiced a few times with him with a hitting stick, but that just wasn't enough. Our nights have been so busy with church, games, practices, shoots, and oh yeah RAIN, that there were hardly any good nights for Kevin to take him alone to the field to practice hitting. Broke my heart. But, we will hopefully get him all ready for next year. His defense was amazing. He rarely missed a single ball this year--and trust me he got some lousy throws at him. He was definitely their best catcher and thrower--he throws very accurately in a play. :) He pitched, and was their #1 pitcher much of the season. [they were all first year pitchers, so that doesn't exactly mean he was amazing--just really good for 1st year] But his hitting just wasn't there. And it was our fault. KILLS me. :(

Talan is a mess! He's rotten as can be, and I love him to death. Ansley adores him, he adores her, and yet he is always into trouble because he keeps pushing the envelope with her! When she gets bigger she is really going to let him have it! LOL More later. No time for pics. I'll try to get them later.

A Merry Christmas with the Moores!

Okay, so we actually got most of our wrapping done before Christmas Eve, which is quite unusual. All but 2 gift cards for presents were purchased 3 days before Christmas, which was even better! I've never been that ahead before. And yes, I consider that ahead! LOL! I have spent many years shopping 'til close on Christmas Eve...unhappily....

So Christmas Eve, Kevin had to work (of course). When he got home, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a while and hung out. She had dinner made, and we ate a bit, and just talked and stuff. Then, we left the boys, and took Ansley with us home to...you know...get things "ready." We thought we wouldn't have a lot to do, but actually we did. There was also some picking up that had to be done, so that also put us behind. And I also wanted to take some Christmas studio pics of Ansley, but she was pretty uncooperative, so that didn't last long. So anyway, we head back to Grandma's at about 10:30 or so. We went ahead and opened gifts there, and had a great time. When we were little, Santa would come to Grandma and Grandpa's (we would stay all night there), and then we would come home and see that Santa had been there too. Through the years, the tradition got adjusted to where we opened gifts at midnight, that way everyone could still have a good night's rest in their own home. But this year, we went ahead and did it before midnight, as everyone was getting tired. We just said Santa would only come at our house, and that there wouldn't be a Santa gift at Grandma & Grandpa's. The boys and Ansley got lots of stuff there. Riley was a hit. He was sooooo happy about everything he got, and kept exclaiming every time he opened something, and then would thank whomever the gift was from. He made me pretty proud. I've always said that boy has the most grateful heart :)











Ansley was awake the whole time, and didn't fall asleep until nearly time to get in the car. She looked so very cute in her Christmas pjs.

































Then we came home. We weren't "done" with everything, and had to just set everything in the playroom temporarily, so we told the boys to go straight to bed--and to hurry and get to sleep--before Santa came. Well, leave it to Spencer. He somehow snuck in to the living room and noticed that Santa had eaten his cookies and drank his milk, but hadn't left any gifts. Great. Spencer is going to be the end of me, I'm telling you. So Kevin told him we must have scared him off, and he's probably coming back. Talan was absolutely adorable. He was nearly quivering with fear that he wouldn't be asleep when Santa came back, and that he wouldn't get anything. I had to assure him many times. It sort of upset me, actually, how much this "Santa" thing meant to them. I know they're little, but still...Talan was really truly about to have a breakdown it seemed!

The kids ended up falling asleep pretty quickly. We finished what we needed to do, and then happily got into bed and waited for them to wake up. That morning they saw their unwrapped gifts from Santa, and opened the wrapped gifts from Mommy and Daddy. There weren't really any big wish list items this year. Their lists and wants were pretty much little things--nothing big like in years past. So in that respect, we lucked out! Spencer ended up with his DSi, and although I got it before he really really wanted it, he plays with it all the time and loves how it can take pictures. He also got one of those mini claw machines, which Talan seems to love more than he does. We figured Spencer would totally love it, as he is obsessed with them in stores, but...he is way more into the DSi.

Riley's main wish was for a T-Rex, so he got several dinosaurs that he plays with now. And he is a huge Wii fan, so he spends much of his time right now trying out all the new Wii and PS2 games that everyone got. The games are definitely his favorite. He also got a big monster truck that jumps over cars--he just loves the fact that it's so big, though. And one of those huge Nerf guns. It was nice that we didn't have to purchase anything big and electronic for him this year...only games. :)

Talan's fave is probably one of those bop bags, that we have had before. You know, the one where you can punch it down and it comes back up? Yep, that was his favorite gift until he cut a hole in it with scissors. That child, that child....I did tape it with duct tape, and will be checking to see if it keeps it sealed enough to keep that one until I can go get another. I got it from ToysRUs,and not sure if they have them at Wal-Mart or not... He got a 2 Wii games and a PS2 game, but Talan seems so anxious all the time, it's hard for him to stick with something. He gets frustrated and wants to quit. I hope to work more with him on that after the boys get back into school, and it's just us during the day. He also loves his new Thomas pieces and trains...he got a suspension bridge and tunnel, which of course cost a fortune in my opinion.

Ansley didn't get a whole lot...leggings, leg warmers (LOVE), tons of shoes and clothes, a teacup set, a play purse with stuff to go in it....not too too much, we thought we'd try to skimp on her this first year.

Kevin and I kept it simple--jeans for him and a sweater for me. We are soooo on a budget right now. Thank goodness that my parents still spoil me, or it would have been a total bummer. My fave gift is definitely my Coach purse and wallet from my mom. This one is just adorable...totally love it! Oh, and that Love and Luck perfume by Ed Hardy. It smells soooo good! And that LoveSpell lotion by VS. That smells soooo good too! Kevin and I both are loving all of that--perfume for me has been a rarity since I got pregnant with Spencer, and that was nearly 10 years ago! Now that I have found a new scent that I love, I wear it every time I've been out! Thanks to Steph for letting me smell it on her---it's delicious! And I'm soooo not a perfume girl! Well....I was before my first pregnancy....That has officially changed! I love smelling it! And my dad's main gift to me was photoshop. It is more useful than I originally had thought, as it was required by one specific lab that I use.

Okay, but the best thing about Christmas this year was that it was my first Christmas dinner at my house. At the beginning of our marriage, I kid you not that we were shuttling to about 6 different places on the 2 days of Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Now, I know that some say we are so "lucky" and "blessed" and that we should be "thankful," but....no. That sooooo wasn't happening! Christmas was a chore! I hated rushing here, rushing there, being starving because we weren't ever there at the time they ate...packing this, packing that. It was a total Christmas ruiner! Hated it. Hated it, hated it, hated it. So we have weeded out people out, and condensed it to just my Grandma & Grandpa's on Christmas Eve night, then mine and his parents on Christmas morning, then that evening at Kimo and Susan's in Farragut (my fave place, mainly bc it's the last stop of the night, and we can relax--the kids have kids to play with, and we usually play board games and have so much fun).

Well, I have been saying to Kevin for years that I want Christmas dinner at my house. And he has always been against it. (The kids get soooooo many gifts from so many different people, and he doesn't want to stress about putting it all up before company comes over)And he has always won. Well, I told him that it was enough, we had had it his way for 7 years, and sorry--but now it's my turn. I am a mother of 4. I obviously LOVE family traditions and anything like that...most people who want large families do...and it was my turn to have a tradition for my family. And so I did!!!!

It was chaotic! LOL! We were so rushed from picking up--we got home from my mom's at about 2:30, and people were coming at 6:00, and no cooking had been done yet! I was totally winging everything, and totally behind. But it got done!!!! (Kevin left all the gifts that weren't from us in the car--great idea!) And I had my Christmas tradition!!!! And it is my hope that when my children get older, they will know that Christmas dinner is at 6 or 7:00 at our house, and that that time slot belongs to me and our family! This tradition of mine excites me more than I can completely express. It is weird, because it's like a small dream come true for me. But, that's how I feel! So now, I hope to own that small piece of Christmas forever in my children's lives. (If they live close enough, of course).

So it was Mom & Jeff and Kimo & Susan and their children who came. It was wonderful. They had so much fun. Dinner was delicious. The only thing that could have made it better would be if my sister had stayed in town. She instead went to Cookeville, with her boyfriend, which kind of stunk. But, you can't win them all. We played a little game to open presents--a competitive game where you win a chance to start opening the gift by rolling a 7, then you try to open it with gloves, a hat, and a scarf on, and the person who actually gets to the gift on his/her turn is actually the winner of the gift--and I look forward to playing that every Christmas now. Very fun!!!! Kevin won us a $40 gift card to Connors/Chop House! Sweet! We got so many restaurant gift cards this year...I can't wait to use them right up!

So that was our Christmas. The first Christmas with our complete family. The first Christmas with our own family dinner at our house. The first Christmas with a little girl to dote on. I am so incredibly thankful....

And so there are the many pics that has been the root of all my slacking!!! And yes, some of them are on here twice, three times, four times. I just don't have the patience to fix it. I never even made it past the pics at my grandma's, so I'll just have to add a little as I go. I have to move on, or I'll miss the next 3 months as well!!! I'm so mad that I took this long and have missed so much! UGH!

Christmas Shoppin'!!!!

Okay, so I only got a couple of things on Black Friday, one being the DSi, so needless to say, I had a ton of shopping to do--I DO have 4 children!

So I did most of my shopping either with just Ansley or with Steph and Ansley. Steph is great to shop with, and I absolutely love when she does with me! We have had our funniest moments shopping together, and crack up usually close to the entire time. We Christmas shop every year together, several times, and I just love it! On a side note, it upsets me that Ansley won't have a sister. Steph and I are 7 years apart, and I absolutely love her to death. There is no one like her, and no one that would ever come close to what she is to me. There is indeed a special bond between sisters--one that I don't have with anyone else. We can talk forever, or just cut up the whole time. Unfortunately, we have the same flaws when it comes to shopping, so she's not exactly helpful...hahaha! In fact, I would say she is worse. She will buy and then rebuy, and have a complete load of things to return, where she would rebuy after changing her mind on a present...then end up giving them all of the things instead of returning! She's awful about that. She has such a good heart. But it's a good thing she's gonna be a pharmacist, to help foot the cost of all of her gift giving! LOL!

Ansley is an excellent shopping partner, and has proved she is in it for the long run :) This is how I did the shopping thing...

Usually leave the house around 8:00 (remember how I procrastinate? I would seriously have everything pretty much ready to go, then cook, then eat, then watch a little TV...hahaha! Horrible!). Get to Knoxville around 8:45, shop at the mall shops until 10:00, when they close. Then go to Belk, because they stay open 'til 11. Then Belk closes, so I'm off to ToysRUs or Target, which close at 12:00. Then after they close, of course to Wal-Mart I go! I took Ansley with me on maybe about 4 or so trips altogether, and only one of them was a really late night, where I got home after 1. She really does like shopping. I would just strap her in the Baby Bjorn if she was awake, and she would just eat it up! She loved "talking" to strangers, wiggling around, and especially pushing off of my hands when I would put my hands under her feet so that she could stand up. Oh how she loves that:) When she got tired, she would start to give a low whine every few seconds, and I would take her out, cradle her, give her the paci, and she was out. Then I would transfer her to the car seat after a few minutes. I mean it when I say it--she is just wonderful! But yes, it was so late for her. I could have left her at home, and eventually did the last several visits, but to be honest, she keeps me company if there's no one else that I'm with, and I feel like we really are 2 peas in a pod a lot of the time...and I pretty much adore her and love keeping her close to me.

Alright, so there's one post!!!! More coming!

"This is Kevin"

So today I got ready to pay the phone bill online, and realized when I pulled it up that it was WAY over. Now is not the year or the month to have a cell phone bill that is way over! So anyway, it actually had Kevin using up more minutes than me which never ever happens. And I needed to get detailed call billing, so I could see if this whole this was just bogus or not. And the phone bill is in Kevin's name. So guess what I did today? LOL

I faked being my husband.

Yep, I get so tired of hearing things like, "Well, Kevin is the name on the account, ma'am, so we'll need to speak with him. Could you have him call us back?" Nearly everything is in his name, so anytime I have a question or need to talk with customer service to change something, I get that. Sometimes I don't, but you know, a lot of times I do.

So I tried my best to deepen my voice and pretend I was him. I was totally cracking myself up and it was very hard to wing as many questions and answers that I had to do without any prior rehearsal. Totally hilarious. Sometimes I sounded really country, sometimes I didn't, sometimes I sounded like a homosexual! LOL I was dying. It was so funny because everytime I asked a question, I'd have to get my lips just right before I could say anything. And I knew....just knew....that I totally sounded like a very stupid person. Like very unintelligent, and from the hills.

Hilarious!

I did get the detailed billing info, and it does appears correct so far. (didn't nitpick it yet) And who has Kevin been talking to so much? Me! On the home phone, so it counts towards our minutes. UGH!

And as far as the cell phone thing, still haven't decided for Spencer. Steph thinks I should get him a free blackberry that she has seen several different places. I told her I don't care if its free or not he's NOT getting a blackberry! I just really want to wait until middle school, but I also know how blissfully happy he will be to own one. Tough decision! Raising boys esp. is tough, I think, because you really don't want to spoil. You're raising a future dad (hopefully) and future husband (hopefully). You don't want to raise someone who is used to getting whatever they want. You want to raise someone who is used to waiting, and understands earning. You want to raise someone who understand the value of a dollar (even at his age), yet isn't deprived (oh he's not). But then you also want to give them what they want because you love them so much! Spencer is such a great boy. I mean it, he's just wonderful, I think. He's so very helpful and he is so sweet. I would have loved having him for an older brother. The others are lucky to have such a good one. It may be up in the air until the last minute.

little prayers

Well, we switched a few months ago from the regular child bedtime prayer to unscripted ones. We have done both before, but either Kevin or myself would lead the prayer and the boys would echo it. Well, we switched a few months ago to letting each one do their own prayer. Takes a little bit longer, but it doesn't seem that way because of how interesting it is.

A couple of cute things that have happened....Spencer loves it and of course is very thoughtful in his prayers. Riley is funny. He has thanked God for the days of the week, and asked the Lord to bless "everyone in the earth and the other earth. And bless everyone in the world. And other worlds." LOL Kevin corrected him the other night, but I told him I liked hearing his little prayers, "correct" or not :)

One night recently Talan was praying (and for some reason he never says, "Dear Lord..." he just breaks right into "Thank you..." His are so very sweet too! Well anyhow, one night recently he was praying and he began to ask the Lord to bless "Mommy, Daddy, Riley and Talan and the baby girl Ansley..." and Spencer gave out some time of signal that--ahem--he had forgotten him! Well, after the prayer was over, Spencer told him that he forgot him. And I did as well. And then I asked if he wanted to ask God to bless Spencer. His answer? "Naaaah!!!" LOL!

Spencer and I just cracked up.

busy busy busy

Wow I have been soooo busy lately! I don't know what it is about me....why I can't stay idle for a while and just enjoy being caught up on things. I apparently have a huge character flaw that needs to learn to relax and enjoy life!

I'm talking about working from home. My small photography business. It's going really well so far. I love it. I love building it. I love making and designing every inch of it. I love bursting with new ideas over it. And it's killing me. I come up with something and it take me a while to deliver. I have had project after project after project. I've spent so much time on the computer that I am going to be fat! LOL Creating this, coming up with that, checking on this, designing that...and editing...editing...editing....

So I am really going to focus on taking a break now that I'm a little at a stopping point. I've designed all I need to design right now. I have to focus on my precious angel before time slips away any further! Just the thought of it is killing me!

I am already dreading now going back to work. Half the year is almost over, and I cannot imagine leaving her. It is going to hurt me too bad. Yes, I miss my coworkers and all, but I have seen them lately, and so I'm okay as far as that goes. I miss teaching, but I still teach Talan anyway, so I'm okay with that too. And now that it's winter, I'm so glad to be able to stay in my pjs a little longer in the morning (I'm still up early though). Yep, I've gotten over the fact that I miss my job and now I dread going back :( I AM totally the grass is always greener type of person. I'm horrible about that. In college, if I was with one boy, I'd wish I was with the other, then I would be with the other, and wish I was with the first. I'm horrible. I'm always wanting the opposite! Why is that???

I can't commit!

So....what's been up...

Well, I bought Spencer a DSi--the only great deal (for the kids) that I found on Black Friday, left it in the car, and wouldn't you know it that the next morning it's still there and he sits right beside it and obviously finds it?

Oh yeah.

It goes a little something like this...

Me: Kevin, you did get that bag out of the car, right (as the boys are in the car while we're getting a few forgotten items--story of my life)?

Kev: What bag? I didn't know there was a bag.

Me: Are you serious? It's still in the car? (panicking) Go get it oh my gosh!!!!

Kev: (about a minute later, coming back in with the bag) Well, guess where it was. Right beside Spencer.

Me: Are you serious? Promise. Promise me you're not kidding. Promise me.

Kev: I promise.

Me: You promise? You promise you're not kidding. You're lying.

Kev: NO. It was right beside him in the car. In a clear bag. WHO gives out clear bags???

Me: I don't believe it.

We enter the car....

Kev: So, Spencer... (nonchalantly) where did that bag go?

Spencer: What bag?

Kev: The bag that was sitting right here.

Spencer: You just took it in.

(I am laughing silently and incognito)

Kev: (dying too) Oh. What was in it?

Spencer: IDK

Kev: You don't know? I don't remember what was in it. You sure you don't know?

Spencer: IDK

Riley: (from back seat) I KNOW!

Spencer: Riley!!! Shush!!!! Don't say it Riley!!!

Riley: I KNOW!!!

Kev: What was it, Riley?

Spencer: Riley!!!! Be quiet!!!

Riley: It was game thing....a DS. With Mario on the front of it.

Spencer: It was a DSi. With Mario on the cover or something like that.

Kev: I thought you said you didn't see it, Spencer?

Spencer: Ugh!!! It was right here!! You shouldn't have left it in here!!!

Kev: Well, now we have to return it. We can't give it to you now.

Spencer: UGH! Riley!!!! SEEE???? SEEE??? I told you Riley!!! Now they're not going to give it to us!!!

And so Spencer is in a panic.

Then I explain that we may or may not give it for Christmas, as Mommy has commitment issues, and buys things a lot of times and then returns them. (Which is too true.) Spencer then tells me how much he wants a DSi, but is okay and understands my long and thorough explanation at how I buy and return things.

Yes, I have commitment issues.

I totally bought it with the intention to decide later whether or not to keep it, and now we're stuck. Which could be a good thing. Indecisiveness can torture the soul!

For Spencer's other gift, we are *considering* a cell phone. He has wanted one for over a year now, and has even secretly asked Steph and my grandmother if they would please get him one, and that he really really wants one. I keep asking him who he plans on calling, and that hey...I'm right here. He doesn't need a phone to call me. LOL.

A few months ago we saw a boy around his age outside of Wal-Mart with a cell phone, texting. Spencer pointed it out. So I ask, "Oh so you want to call him? You don't even know him." LOL I think he is TOOO funny! Who is he planning on calling???

But about a month ago, Kevin bugged him saying that I had a pink razr phone if he wanted it, and showed it to him. Well, Spencer had already taken Grandma's old cell phone (she gave it to him), which obviously doesn't work, and Spencer said that no, he didn't want my old pink phone.

Well, then like the next day or so I asked him if he was sure he didn't want my pink phone (joking). And instead of a definite no, he started asking me if it worked....and could he see it for a minute. Broke my heart, how excited he was for a minute because he believed me! It really did! He was going to take my pink girly phone! I called Kevin that day at work and told him we really needed to consider getting him a phone.

Spencer is really into secret messages and spy stuff and in a way has some Ferris Bueller tendencies, so I know he would enjoy texting his friends. The only problem is, I'm not sure who of his friends even has one. He named off a couple of people, but they aren't his close friends. But he wants one really bad, and we are considering it, even though I believe he is way too young and that would be more of a thing for a 6th grader. I haven't seen him want something so badly for so long. I know it's healthy to want stuff, but...I don't know. Spencer is a really good boy. He is an excellent older brother. He is wonderful at school. He runs out of patience at times, but he is soooo good with his brothers. He is always there to help me out if I need him to watch Ansley for a minute while I finish supper or to get something out of reach for Talan. He is just such a good boy, and I think I don't always have to totally understand what he wants. He wants it really bad, I think he is very responsible for a 4th grader, and well...I don't see any danger at this point. I'll peep in on his text messages, and monitor his usage, but I have to say I would trust him with one. So that's a definite maybe.

I've already spoke with his best friend's mother, so she has a heads up about it in case he begins to ask for one, too.

So that's all I have time for right now. 'night all.