Pure Exhaustion

Poor baby girl....these last three weeks have been so hard on her. Danika has been such a good sport. With all that has gone on with Susan, the funeral, and then the hospital for me last week...poor Danika hasn't had anything "normal" for 3 weeks. She has been staying up late at night, sleeping in strange places at strange times, staying with all sorts of different people, dealing with two very emotional parents, and basically experiencing a very, very disrupted life. Oh...and she thinks all the relatives live with her permanently now...she thinks that we live in one big house with Papa, Uncle Dave, Aunt Kristen, Julie, 'Layna, Joel, Nana, Papa Jerry, Grandma Berniss and Barbie....and did I mention that we all exist exclusively for her personal joy? :) So the reality of living in our normal home with none of those people is upsetting her as well.

As a result, she is understandably cranky, generally whiny, and really clingy to Mommy and Daddy. I feel bad for her... I know that it isn't really her fault.

So this weekend, we tried to set aside Saturday as a "Danika Day" - just Mommy, Daddy and Danika for the day. She seemed pretty happy about it, but one day just isn't going to fix three weeks of disruption. So it should have been no surprise that Sunday was just a bad day all the way around...she was extremely difficult and obviously tired. We had a graduation party and our annual Baptism service and picnic at church...she was just kind of a disaster the whole time. And within seconds of pulling out of the church event, Doug and I looked in the backseat to see that hilarious image.

Now is that pure exhaustion or what??? :) I have to say, I've seen some pretty funny things before...but I've never seen this. :) Danika fell sound asleep with an unopened granola bar firmly between her teeth. She kept it that way until we got her into her jammies. I think we need to get this poor kid into a regular routine again...for all our sakes.