One more thing....

Congratulations on the new job, Uncle Jeff!!! We are very excited for you guys. I still can't believe you are moving to Louisiana now that I live 12 hours away....but, it matters not because God is good!!

I LOVE being a Mom...but could I have FOUR!!?!

My closest friend here in our little town, Ashley, has just begun massage therapy school ( I know, how lucky am I!?!) and this morning our friend Jessie, who usually keeps her kiddos for a couple of hours on Monday morning (until Ash's hubby, Scott, gets off work at 10 AM), is on vacation at the beach (okay, so she is a little luckier than me at the moment...). So, Ash asked me to watch the kids this morn. This is the first time since Madden was born that I have watched her kids and I was a little nervous too be in charge of an almost 4 month old, a 20 month old (Jackson), a 3 1/2 year old (Savannah), and my almost 4 year old. But, I really didn't have much time to be anxious once they got here.

It actually went very well. Maddie actually slept until 8:45 AM, so we had a whole hour of just the 'big' kids. We ate breakfast pretty quickly, and we played and destroyed Leighton's room after that. Everyone obeyed the room rules for the most part:
#1--stay out of the closet
#2--keep off the bed (this policy helps avoid the temptation to jump and possibly cause a trip to experience the joys of emergency medicine)
We then made a pallet in front of the TV and turned on 'Charlotte's Web' and snacked on animal crackers and milk...Savannah was the only one who truly watched the movie; Jackson and Leighton continued playing.

Even nursing Madden was not a big deal. Jackson is the only one who paid much attention to that...The only thing we had to watch closely was the swing...Jacks kept wanting to get up close to love on her and stopped the swing in doing so, while Ley and Savannah were wanting to push the swing themselves with a little too much force. It's a good thing that Maddie is used to life with Leighton on a daily basis; sometimes I think he messes with her as much as 3 or 4 brothers and sisters would! That which does not kill us (or send us to the ER...), makes us stronger...

Before we knew it, Scott had arrived to pick up his half of the kids. It was a fun morning and I will gladly take care of the Carpenter children again whenever I am needed (although I may need a little Swedish massage when I am done!!), but I am certainly happy with my two offspring for the time being...