My heart is...

...blessed...and...broken. Its one minute before midnight and only 8 short hours before the girls leave to go home. The family room floor is covered in luggage and everyone has retired to bed since they will be leaving by 8am(except me of course). The last few minutes of Mary Poppins is playing and the lights are being turned off. I'm not going to cry over the broken heart I feel coming on because God has absolutely blessed my socks off this week! What a dream come true! Just like the days before Ashley Kate's birth but better because she's with us.

We have had an amazing time. Shopping, camping, fishing, shopping, playing, swimming, shopping, cooking, planning(my nephew's wedding reception is next weekend), shopping, laughing, cuddling, and did I mention shopping? We love it. Not just the shopping(we usually walk out empty handed, but boy is it fun to do it together!), but all of it. We have officially welcomed the stroke of midnight each and every night around our dining room table as our rounds and rounds of sequence, kazink, and dominoes have continued into the wee morning hours. We have laughed until we cried, until our sides hurt, and until we spit diet coke across the room. Its been such a blessing to have the them here.

On several occasions today I have walked into a room and caught a glimpse of one of my sister's playing or rocking my sweet Ashley Kate. She has fallen in love with them and my heart has fought back the tears as I watched from a distance as she opened up her world to them. She has giggled, and snuggled and played with them so much more than any of us had expected. This has by far been the biggest blessing of the week.

This afternoon we spent the day at the pool and then took portraits of the girls(all but Ashley Kate. It was too hot to have her down at the pond). The photographs are beautiful! Our little girls aren't so little anymore. They are 10, 10, 8, and 8. Then of course there is our Ashley who is officially 2 years, 9months, and 24 days old. That is soooo close to 3! Boy is my smile widening as I type that! In a couple of months we will be hosting another (can you even believe that?) huge birthday celebration for our pickle. Anyway, we finished the day off with dinner at Blake's favorite restaurant and a round of dominoes.

Allison Brooke is taking the second week of summer vacation and going to Oklahoma with her aunts and cousins. We will be going to Colleyville(sp?) for a baseball tournament and then will join her there next Thursday to begin decorating for my oldest nephew's wedding reception(Congrats Jeff and Leah! We are so excited for you!). Blake told me this afternoon that he "has a good feeling about this weekend." He doesn't know why, but he's feeling pretty good about this upcoming tournament. Ashley Kate looks so good this week! She has been so happy and silly. Her lab work improved some and for that we are grateful. Her liver enzymes continue to be out of the normal ranges but have gotten much closer. Her BUN and sodium have improved a lot as well. We will run another set in the morning and are hoping for good results. She continues to grow and grow and grow and I almost fell out of the chair when they told me how much she weighed last week. NO WONDER my low back has been aching! This child has got to learn to walk! By the way, her new standing frame is being delivered tomorrow afternoon. You can just imagine how excited she's going to be! I'll take a few pictures and share them with you. It won't be pretty. I can promise you that.

Well, I guess I'll go lay down now. The house is sooo quiet. Just a little preview to how empty its going to seem tomorrow I'm sure. It's amazing how simply beautiful chaos can be. 2 twelve year old boys, 2 ten year old pre teen girls, 2 eight year old blonds, and a toddler is a house full. Add Hope to the mix and you pretty much have the most wonderful chaos you have ever heard! Have I ever mentioned that our house is really, really small? Yep, its crowded but cozy! I just love it. Goodnight guys. Thanks so much for continuing to spend time here with us. We haven't forgotten that you have chosen to be here and we love you for it. God bless and take care. Trish