Alex's 1st Communion

Today Alex made her 1st communion. Pete & I planned on bringing the girls to church and then to the reception after...which means they would have skipped naps today. But we soon realized skipping naps wasn't an option because by 9:00 they were already showing signs of being tired. So the plan changed. I would go to the church while the girls slept and then Pete would get the girls ready and meet me at the reception.

We put the girls down for a nap at 10 but by 10:45 Emily still wasn't sleeping. She came to the door and said 'Emmie awake!' Haha. So change of plans again. I got her dressed and took her to church with me while Hannah & Hailey enjoyed a 2 hour nap. We had to stop at CVS for some apple juice (we ran out) and a card. We also bought some Teddy Grahams for a snack in church since we were going to be there during lunch time.

Emily sat from 11:30 - 1:00 in church without a problem. Not a single 'outside' voice. Not a single tear. No whining. No bugging mommy. She sat when she needed to sit, stood when it time to kneel and enjoyed her teddy grahams after asking for them very politely. 'Snack please' (in her inside voice). I was amazed. 1.5 hours is an eternity for Emily. And let's not forget...this was all without a nap! I was very proud of her. ;-)

Pete actually met us at the church since we were there so long and then we all took the van to the reception after. The food was great, the girls were excellent and Emily even caught a quick snooze on Bryon's lap for a while. She was sleeeeeepy (but still good).

The ride home was a nightmare though. Hailey took her shoes off and was chewing on them (don't ask why because I don't know!). She ALWAYS takes her shoes off in the car (I do too when I can). I don't mind it at all that her shoes are off. But chewing on them - no. She knows better (and ew!). So when I asked her to put them on the floor and stop chewing on them she ignored me. I said it 3 times and then told her I was going to take them away. She simply stared at me while chomping away. So I climbed in the back (Pete was driving obviously) and took her shoes away. This sent her into a rage. She cried and screamed the WHOLE WAY HOME. 25 minutes of it. Needless to say my patience level for her dwindled quite rapidly and by the time we got home she found herself with no shoes and in her room for a time out. (Something new we started - blog more on that another time). Eventually she said 'sorry' but not for a while...maybe 20 minutes. Grrrrrr she can drive me nuts!

Then it was time for dinner, baths and bed. They went right to sleep (another post for another day...Hailey has been very good about going to bed lately thanks to some new 'tricks').

Being in church today was really tough for me. I'm not so sure I would have been able to compose myself if Emily weren't there. I know that if I cry in front of her she gets really upset but it wasn't easy. I just kept thinking about my dad and wondering..........