16 DIRTY DISHES

Christmas and beyond...

2012-01-10T21:55:00.005-07:00

Yogurt and toast for breakfast...

Tyler is a trinket carrying kid--you know the type. The kid that always has at least one, usually a handful, of small toys/treasures/trinkets that go with them everywhere. Tyler is that kid, and always has been, though what he chooses to carry around changes everyday. The other day Jeremy and I came across a video I took years ago of Tyler on the day he was getting his front tooth extracted. In the video he's lying on his back in the dentist chair, an oxygen mask covering his face, eyes towards the ceiling where a movie is playing, with his arms dangling over the side. Then the camera follows one of those arms down to a small hand that's tightly clutching a little toy 4-wheeler.

This is the kind of trivia about Tyler that I'm afraid I'll forget someday, so yesterday morning I took a picture of the things he had brought down to breakfast with him. After breakfast he was coloring, so he set his trinkets amidst his coloring supplies.

A small toy penguin.
A bottle of Spider-man hand sanitizer.
A toy car from a box of Cheerios.
A baseball pen that Alexis gave him for Christmas.

You know, the essentials.

In his stocking this year Tyler got a watch, which he has worn very responsibly every day since. He constantly informs me of the time, though he's never been taught how to read a watch so his pronouncements aren't usually correct. But in my opinion, that makes it even better. He's very into numbers lately and has also taught himself the concept of adding and adds things all the time.

So, Christmas. Christmas with kids is really the greatest thing ever. Christmas makes me want to have a million kids so I never have to experience a Christmas morning without children ever again. Fortunately, reality always hits the day after Christmas.

And this year I especially loved Christmas because it was on a Sunday, and after opening presents and eating omelets we headed to church where we got to talk and sing about our Savior. That was my favorite part of the day.

As I was going through my pictures to see which ones I wanted to share, I was overcome with an intense amount of pride in my children. It's simply spectacular to watch your children grow up and become their own person. I know mine are young still, but everyday I get glimpses into the person they are shaping into, and it's really incredible. I feel so blessed to be a parent, but even more blessed to be, specifically,
Alexis' parent,
and Tyler's parent,
and Ryan's parent.

But the real blessing, the best present that comes from the Christmas season, is that I get to be with them forever. Families ARE forever. That's why I celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, because He gave me that chance. He gives me that chance every single day.

Here are those wonderful children with some of their (more tangible) Christmas loot:

Alexis got a hair feather and lots of clothes/accessories for her doll.
And lots of clothes for herself, and books for her brain.

Tyler got a building kit with a real hammer, nails, wood and glue.
The perfect gift for this kid, who wants to be just like his dad.

Ryan got more cars than he can count.

(especially if you include all of Tyler's new trucks that he steals everyday...)
A fistful of cars is all this kid needs to be content.
(If only that were actually true, I'd get a lot more done around here.)

And Jeremy and I got time to be together, time to be with our children, time to be with my family and with his family, time to enjoy the day. And really, in this stage of our lives, time is one thing we often only dream of having, which makes it a nice gift to be given.

before Christmas...

2011-12-21T18:37:00.004-07:00

At the beginning of the month this little precious niece of mine was born. She is so cute and snuggly and it's nice to have a baby to hold as much as I want, that isn't my own. I keep telling my sister how lucky she is to be able to lay around all day with a cute little lumpy baby on her. But then I remember that it's hard to feel that when it's your first baby. I think you have to chase other kids around to really enjoy doing nothing but holding a new baby. I know I didn't appreciate it when Alexis was a baby.

While growing up my family always had the Christmas tradition of decorating Gingerbread houses, except ours were always made out of graham crackers. Alexis kept asking when we were going to do it this year, and fortunately our kind neighbor gave us one of those kits that you buy in the store. It comes with the gingerbread pieces already cut, frosting already made, and different kinds of candy. I was never interested in buying one of those kits because it seemed like cheating to me, but after making it this way I may have a hard time going back to graham cracker houses. It was so easy! And on the last day of school a boy in Alexis' class brought in a gingerbread house kit for each student, so we had two to decorate. Evidently his mom bought enough for his sisters class too. 60 kits x $10 = an insane amount of money to spend on gingerbread house kits. But lucky us!

The big news of the month is that we finally cut Ryan's hair. I always put off the first haircut for as long as I can because it just makes them seem so grown up to me. And I was especially hesitant to cut Ryan's because he has curl on the fringes and in the back. But it had grown long enough that it was getting in his eyes, and his curls were mostly straightening out. I didn't expect him to sit still for the haircut but he amazed us and sat perfectly on the stool through the whole thing. In fact, I've noticed that he is a little less rowdy in general. But only a little.
I wanted it to be kept a little longer, but we aren't professionals and it ended up pretty short. I'll probably let it grow long before we cut it again, and hopefully his curls will come back. He doesn't know it, but he's more fortunate than his brother because he ended up with a normal haircut, nothing like what we did to Tyler at this age. Though Jeremy did campaign for the mullet...
Ryan has also started nursery, and it didn't go as well as I expected. But each week has been better, so there's hope. He just needs to learn how to talk and then maybe it would be more fun for him!

Alexis wanted me to take this picture to show how she feels about the Utes. Our kids have somehow become die hard BYU fans and have a developed a dislike for their rival, University of Utah. I'm not sure how this came about, Jeremy and I went to BYU and cheer for them in a game, but we don't ever talk about not liking the Utes. I think part of it is just living in Utah, they've learned from friends about the rivalry and decided to pick a side. Also, they are afraid that if they don't like BYU they won't be allowed to go in their Uncle Trent's room (I think he has a sign that says "BYU fans only" or something like that), and since that's where they usually sleep when we visit Jeremy's parents, they've gotten smart.
Alexis is such a help around here. We have our moments with her, they mostly involve getting her to focus on things, but she really does help out with Ryan a lot. And she's usually quick to do any favor that we ask. She and Tyler are both in gymnastics, and she's really started loving it lately. She is constantly doing cartwheels and bridges and handstands in our living room. She even likes practicing the splits, and is really close to being able to do them all the way. She amazes me with how strong she is, and can put up a good fight when she's wrestling with Tyler and Jeremy. Unfortunately she receives the greatest amount of my nagging and annoyance, but I'm really trying to work on that. Last night she asked if she could stay up late to work on a Christmas present she wants to make Tyler. I thought she would be able to do it herself, but she asked me to help her. I was a little annoyed at first because I had things I wanted to do, but as I sat there watching her and listening to her ideas, I was just struck with the thought that she is an incredible person and I am extremely lucky to have her in my life. She is growing up right before my eyes, yet I'll miss it if I don't stop more often and take those moments with her. So I'm grateful that she asked for my help and that I didn't just brush her off.

Tonight we received a package at the door that I let Tyler open. You know he was excited because he wanted me to take a picture of him, and he NEVER wants me to take his picture. In the package was a backpack for Tyler. Since he turned 5 in October he missed the kindergarten deadline, but I still didn't sign him up for preschool. Mostly because I felt like it wasn't right for us at the time, and partly because we didn't want to pay for it. I've never felt like preschool was necessary for either he or Alexis, and I like to keep them home with me for as long as I can. He is involved in a few other things, and while the weather was still pretty warm we did okay. I could tell he wanted to go to school and he was at the age where he was ready to have his own thing, away from mom, but I still didn't want to sign him up. But, finally as it got colder the days with him got a little rougher, and we decided that we'd enroll him in a preschool that a few of his friends go to. It's only two days a week, but I'm going to miss him. He's a good kid to have around, and I guess I'm having trouble believing that he is as old as he is. He is thrilled to be going, and I guess it'll be good for him to have some "school" practice before kindergarten starts.

Sorry for the annoying shadow...
Buying a backpack in the middle of winter online turned
out to be a really cheap way of getting a good backpack.

Now, onto Christmas...if only I were ready!

beware the emoticon

2011-11-29T21:02:00.008-07:00

Well.

November just flew by! :)

(Ummmm, I'm not sure when I became such an avid user* of emoticons, but somehow I am. They can convey such emotion! A wink, a smile, a frown, a kiss, etc. I used to hate them, but now I love them. I'm changing so much as I get older that the next thing you know, I'll want to own a minivan!) (Please don't be offended by that all you minivan driving friends of mine.)

Anyway, here's what we've been up to.

I learned how to french braid my daughters hair! :D
Now I can add it into my vast hair repertoire. It sits alongside the ponytail and... and... that's it.

As the room parent of Alexis' class, I have had lots of opportunities to be in her classroom lately, mostly for parties. And the conclusion I've come to is that I don't generally care for most other people's kids. Horrible, but true. I like my kids a whole lot, and my most of my friends kids (now some of you are wondering which of your kids I don't like...), and my nieces and nephews, but beyond that I'm somewhat indifferent. I think it has something to do with the fact that most of them don't seem to find me funny. (And if I can't make kids laugh, what does that say about my sense of humor?) :'(

Speaking of nieces and nephews, over Thanksgiving my brother and his cute little family came to town. Their daughter is only three months younger than Ryan, and my kids LOVE her. It was so fun for all of us to have her around. And fortunately she's a fast learner because if she weren't Ryan may have accidentally killed her with all his crazy antics. :O

Isn't she cute? Except that it's REALLY crazy for me to see my brother in a miniature, girl version. She looks a lot like him, is what I'm saying.

Speaking of Ryan's crazy antics, I'm not exaggerating when I say he's insane. He is insane. He's constantly climbing on stuff, pulling stuff down, tearing stuff, banging on stuff, and wrecking stuff in anyway possible. :( It's truly amazing he hasn't somehow figured out how to burn our house down, though he is still young, he might get there eventually.

Tonight Tyler and I left the house for about 20 minutes. When I came home Alexis informed me of the earth shattering news that Ryan had been causing trouble. Later Jeremy showed me the following picture and said, "Did Alexis tell you what Ryan did?"
He explained to me that he found Ryan in the bathroom sink (his new favorite hang out) fully dressed, with the water running full speed, and the sink filling up quickly. My obvious question was, "And where were you?" I can ask him that because I also ask myself that question everyday. (Where were you, Lisa, when Ryan was dipping gigantic wads of toilet paper in the toilet?)

"At the computer." He was at the computer!!

Seriously, if you've been to my house you know the computer is approximately 6 feet away from the bathroom, and I'm not even exaggerating. So, in the most lovingly and light-hearted way possible I said, "Jeremy, I suggest you start listening more."

"But," he argued "water is like white noise. It just drowns itself out."

"Maybe," I said, "But when water is running and there is a one-year-old in the house, especially a one-year-old like Ryan, the sound of water running should actually sound more like a really loud alarm going off in your head."

But he's really cute, and really funny, so he's got that going for him. (I meant Ryan, but this also applies to Jeremy.)
See:

And see:
(He likes to make funny faces at meal time to distract us from the fact that he's not eating anything. I'm pretty sure he learned that trick from Alexis.) :P

And speaking of pictures (were we speaking of that?), Tyler hates having his picture taken these days. :(
It's basically the worst thing we could ever ask him to do and he pouts and tries to ruin the picture. Fortunately he's five and we're still a little more clever than him and we can make him laugh most of the time.

But did I tell you we took family pictures at the end of October? Here's a math problem, you solve for x where x=Jeremy's mood.

(Tyler hates to have his picture taken)+(Ryan can't stand/sit still)+(we drove 2 hours to our destination)+(we put a lot of time and effort into planning it)= x

That shouldn't take you too long to figure out. But despite all that, I think they turned out nicely and I'll share them soon. In the meantime here's a blurry family picture from this weekend to hold you over.

And this post is another one of those random, crazy sounding ones that I'll read 2 years from now and wish I hadn't sounded so dumb. But it's almost 10 pm, which is my new bedtime (oh man, I can practically see the minivan coming around the corner...), so I don't have time to change anything. ;)

*If you are an emoticon hater like my former self, don't worry, my excessive use of them in this post was just for fun and I won't do it again--I usually restrict my emoticon usage to texts. And even then, I only use the smiley face. :)

no tricks, just treats

2011-11-01T11:33:00.002-06:00

The kids got so much candy yesterday that if I gave it all to Ryan he could literally eat his weight in candy. But you know, then he'd probably throw up and I just had my carpets cleaned, so I won't let him.
Jeremy started his current job last year, the day after Halloween, so we missed out on his company's parade/trick-or-treating fun. We were excited to go this year because I haven't been to his office since he started there and it was nice to finally see where my husband spends most of his day. That's also where most of the kids candy came from this year. There was really no need to go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood after that, but they wouldn't let us get away with not going.

Alexis wanted to be a princess, so I made her a fancy dress. She felt so beautiful in it that it made the work I put into it that much more worth it to me.

Tyler was a skeleton. He had his heart set on that for several months. I always think it's funny to see what kids choose to be. I have no idea why he wanted to be a skeleton so badly, but he had a specific look in mind and wouldn't settle for anything else. Fortunately we found what he wanted in the local classifieds for $5, because I procrastinated (as usual) and all the stores were sold out of skeleton costumes.

And Ryan was a pumpkin, a costume I made for Tyler when he was 2. He was very cute with the extra padding and his funny little run/walk. He had no interest in trick-or-treating, but he did love being outside and playing with any ball he found.
Also, while he is incredibly cute, the question I ask myself daily is, "Will I survive this child?" He is unlike any other toddler I've had. He is 100% constant motion and trouble. If there is trouble to be found, he will find it. He never stops moving and really doesn't sleep well, which means I really don't sleep well, which means I'm tired before I even get up and spend the day chasing him around. He also doesn't talk, which both my previous kids had down by this age. He screeches and screams, grunts and growls, and pulls on my legs when he wants something. He's also become a picky eater and rarely eats dinner. He hates vegetables, but does love fruit, fortunately. He's been extra clingy lately--if I'm holding another child, or even talking to someone else, he comes and whines at my legs until I pick him up. If I dare take a shower while he's awake you better believe I'll be paying for it with a huge mess to clean up.

But on top of all that, he is still the cutest little boy. He keeps my life interesting and I can't imagine what it would be like without him, nor would I want it that way. Plus, he's finally started giving me kisses when I ask for them. With his mouth WIDE open. And we all know there's nothing better than baby kisses, they make life worth living.

five!

2011-10-18T21:34:00.004-06:00

Last week Tyler turned 5.
5!

Frankly, I'm not happy about it.

But he's thrilled, of course. He made a killing on his birthday, and asked for a BYU cake. It was fairly easy to oblige him that one request, but I still do not like decorating cakes. It's just not my thing, but as long as they keep telling me that I make the best cakes (which they do, because they are young and don't know any better), then I will keep at it. After that, I'll buy them a pretty cake.
Aside from the fact that Jeremy (who is totally Tyler's favorite parent) got stuck in jury duty and missed cake and presents, I think he had a pretty great day.

A week before he turned 5, Tyler was jumping around on furniture like a maniac and hit the back of his head on the windowsill. He ended up getting 5 staples for it, and the experience at the urgent care was the worst thing I've ever had to endure as a parent. I'm not exaggerating either. They had to give him a shot around the wound to numb it so they could put the staples in, and it was my job to hold him down. I'm not going to elaborate any more, I'll just say it was horrible. But the wound was deep enough that it justified it, I guess.
When we got home he acted as though nothing happened. He's funny though because he doesn't like a lot of extra attention, so he didn't like people asking to see it or talk about it. And when Alexis was around and we started to talk about it she'd say, "Please don't talk about it, it makes me feel weird." Which is exactly how it made me feel.

In fact, Tyler in general makes me feel weird. He creates a roller coaster of emotions in me lately. Mostly because he's trying so hard to grow up and I'm trying so hard to not let him. He missed the kindergarten deadline by a few months, but he wants to be in school so badly. I didn't put him in preschool for a few reasons, the main one being that I know this is the last year I have with him at home. Once he starts school I will not be his only influence anymore. He'll have a teacher that he spends part of the day listening to, and friends who will start filling his head with all sorts of ideas. So while we have plenty of days that are rough and make me rethink my decision to keep him out of preschool, for the most part I enjoy having him here. I like his company, I like to look at his cute face, I like to hear the funny things he says, I like to watch him play with/beat up on Ryan, and I like to be involved in every minute of his life. I am his mother, I think it's my right. So I'm soaking it in while I can, and next year I suppose I'll let him go to kindergarten (though I know it'll hurt my heart a little).

Tyler has been playing soccer this fall, and he's really good at it. He loves to be out there running around, trying to get the ball, and hoping for a goal. It's a lot of fun to watch him because he's very enthusiastic about it all.
It makes it even better that his good buddies Josh and Hayden are on the team. They are all a bunch of goofballs, and some days I feel really sorry for their coach because the three of them can act pretty crazy, but they are so cute it's hard to really get annoyed.

This last picture makes me laugh, because it just seems to portray them perfectly.

Tyler brings a sweet innocence to our family that I love. He's a companion to his sister, a guide to his brother, a sidekick to his dad, and an absolute treasure to me. I'm thankful everyday that I get to spend my days with him and that I get to be his mother--it's a real treat.

breakfast

2011-10-11T08:46:00.002-06:00

Ryan loves green smoothies. It's basically the only way I can get vegetables in him since he's become a fairly picky eater. (Insert joke here about how someone so chunky can't possibly be picky.)

This morning I got us both a straw and we sat there guzzling it until it was gone. Ryan had a death grip on the cup, afraid that I would move it before he had his fair share.
If you've never sat nose to nose with your baby love while they are sipping out of a straw, you need to change that. It's possibly one of the cutest things ever.

It's also a lot safer than sitting nose to nose with them while they are eating anything else.

perhaps you can relate?

2011-10-04T13:14:00.003-06:00

I will admit that Jeremy and I have not always been the best at Family Home Evening, but we're always trying to be better about it. Our problem isn't really setting aside the time (though some Monday nights seem to fly by with not even a thought of FHE), it's the planning ahead. On Monday evening I usually turn to Jeremy and say, "Do you have a lesson for Family Home Evening?", and 10 minutes later, he does.

Last night as we were attempting to have Family Home Evening, I realized how insane my family is. I'm sure the proper planning would make things run a little smoother, but I think that as long as my children are there it will always be a little interesting, and I really really love that.

The songs that are chosen are always one of these four (because we let the kids pick): Book of Mormon Stories, Popcorn Popping, Once There Was a Snowman, or Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam. And because I'm singing along, they don't sound too great. This week, as soon as Ryan heard us singing he headed to the front of the room and started leading the music.

We try to talk about what we have going on for the week, but Alexis always interjects with random information (like Johnny Appleseed's Birthday, and what day they are serving French Toast for lunch in the cafeteria), and Tyler gets too bored.

The lessons are crazy because the kids seem to be incapable of sitting still, and Ryan is really good at distracting them.

We sometimes have an activity, last night was "Don't Eat Pete", with Ryan trying to snatch all the "Pete's" off the board before we could play.

Occasionally we have snack, usually only on the weeks that I plan ahead.

After all that everything gets loud and crazy. Last night there were some practiced gymnastics moves, some wrestling, some mustache making with pointer fingers, and then Ryan removed his diaper and peed on my carpet.

Usually it ends with me shouting out, "EVERYBODY BE QUIET!", then we sing and everyone is quiet for 3 minutes while we pray. Once that's over the craziness continues, but at least then I can walk away from it all because we've already said the closing prayer.

While it may be tiring and loud I'm always glad we made an effort to do it because while we are around each other often, we aren't always making the effort to talk to each other and teach each other and play together. There truly is wisdom in the idea of Family Home Evening.

my part

2011-09-25T14:57:00.003-06:00

This post may be more appropriate for Mother’s Day, but it comes from thoughts I’ve had lately, as well as a dream I had last night that left me feeling so grateful to be a mother.

Have you ever heard the phrase "What-e'er thou art, act well thy part"? It was inscribed on a castle in Scotland where President David O. Mckay, the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served his mission as a young man. It became his life motto, and I first heard it while reading about him several years ago. I’ve loved that saying ever since, and it passes through my mind often as I’m doing tasks related to the different roles I carry. Currently my most demanding (and likely, most important) role is that of a mother. Often the weight and sacredness of this role gets to me and I start to doubt myself and my abilities, and wonder if I really can “act well” my part. When this happens I begin to look around me and recognize the greatest blessing I have been given in helping me overcome these doubts, and that is the example of others. I’m blessed to have a countless number of good examples of motherhood all around me. My own mother and mother-in-law, are of course people I always turn to for advice, but equally helpful are my friends and sister-in-laws (who are also my friends). They are young mothers like me, and they help me learn how to be a good mother through their actions. I interact with them often, so I’ve seen the good and the bad in their parenting, and I know that like me, they are not perfect. But they each have their own parenting strengths, and it’s those strengths that I watch and try to emulate. I’ve never actually told these friends that I appreciate their examples, I know I probably should. But until I do, I want to remember the things I’ve learned from them so I’m sharing it here. Some of them don’t read my blog, some do. Some of them may recognize themselves in what I’ll say, and some of them may have no idea that I look up to them. And whether I’ve mentioned it in my list below, I recognize that I have something to learn from all of the good people in my life.

I have a friend who never raises her voice to her children. I find this absolutely incredible! She can convey disappointment and sternness to her children (when necessary) without yelling. Yelling isn’t effective anyway, but it’s a common response for most people (me!), and she manages to suppress this.

I have a friend who is the epitome of a loving mother. She listens patiently to the things her kids tell her, and genuinely laughs at the funny things they do. She never speaks badly about them, even when her children aren’t around. She always recognizes the good in each of her children.

I have a friend who seems to never run out of patience. She has some fairly stubborn kids, but she knows how to manage them and can outlast them because of her endless supply of patience.

I have a friend who is excellent at really playing with her kids. In their home they have lots of toys that encourage imaginative play, and she’s right there alongside them playing out these imaginary scenarios. And when they go to a park, she’s on the slides and the swings and the monkey bars with them.

I have a friend who fights for her kids. She knows the good they possess and makes sure her children always know it about themselves, even when others try to emphasize the negative.

I have a friend who just seems to understand how to raise a proper human being. She knows effective discipline and the life lessons kids need to learn. She also knows how to balance that with love so that she can maintain a good relationship with her kids.

I have a friend who carries out fun traditions for her kids, even if it creates a lot of extra work for her.

I have a friend who is just starting out as a mother, but recognizes every day what a blessing it is to be a mother. And she has the ability to laugh at the frustrating things that might make other mothers cry.

I have a friend who recognizes teaching moments when they occur, and because she’s prepared herself ahead of time, can utilize those moments completely.

And I have a friend who teaches her children the joy in serving others, because she truly delights in serving.

It would be easy for me to look at this list of qualities that my friends possess and turn it into jealousy, but jealousy is a useless emotion. It does not inspire me to become better; it only makes me feel bad about myself. I know that I have my own strengths, but I also have many weaknesses. So I use this list to inspire and encourage me, and to remind me of my goal:

“What-e’er thou art, act well they part.”

developmental

2011-09-13T08:31:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I took Ryan to the doctor for his 15 month check-up. One of the developmental questions they ask at this age is "Can he feed himself with a spoon?"

I'm thinking of emailing this picture to the doctor.

new obsession

2011-09-08T21:20:00.002-06:00

I don't think I've ever talked about music on my blog, I pretty much just talk about my kids, but now I will do both!

A few months ago I watched a video on YouTube of a band called Imagine Dragons performing their song "It's Time".

And I fell in love.

I'm not sure what it is that I love about this video so much, but it hooked me so I bought their album, also called "It's Time".

Since I bought it I've been listening to it basically nonstop at home and in the car. The best part is that the kids have also fallen in love with this band, so they request to listen to it all the time. Tonight when I picked up Alexis from gymnastics the first thing she said was "Will you turn on Tokyo?"

"Tokyo", that's their favorite song.

They played a free concert in Provo last weekend that Jeremy and I were able to go to. I was so desperate to go I even asked my poor brother-in-law to spend his first Friday night back in Provo for school to babysit. Fortunately he was kind enough to do it. And Jeremy, being the good dad he is, whipped out his phone just as the band was gearing up to play "Tokyo" so he could take a video of it to show the kids.

So, since these songs are coming in my ears and sticking in my brain constantly these days I decided to share. And I share because I care. About you and about Imagine Dragons.

a lot of firsts...

2011-08-29T20:39:00.004-06:00

Ryan's 1st Rhino adventure

The 1st time I've ever shared a mostly naked picture of Ryan to show you how cute and chubby he is. What? That's not the first time I've done that?? Oh well, enjoy another picture of fat and naked Ryan.

The 1st time I've had a 7 year old

Her 1st pair of Twinkle toes. And hopefully the last.

Her 1st day of second grade

Ryan's 1st time eating corn on the cob

Tyler's 1st soccer game--check out the aggression on his face.
Perhaps we should work on that...

On his way to his 1st goal
(and definitely not his last, that kid is on the ball at all times)

The 1st 22 foot tall lighthouse Jeremy has ever built
(it was a team effort)
(and it probably won't be the only one, he builds a lot of random stuff)

Jeremy's (and teams) 1st time figuring out how to assemble
and erect a 22 foot lighthouse that was built in pieces.

A few other firsts that are unaccompanied by pictures:
-This last week is the 1st time I've had so many behavioral issues with Tyler that I'm ready to give him away. He has not been his sweet, normal self--I think he's mad that he doesn't get to go to school yet. Is it too early to start telling him Santa won't come if he doesn't shape up?
-Another 1st: Last week my kitchen flooded due to a busted washing machine hose. Thankfully it burst sometime in the early morning so we caught it before the water got too very deep and spread too very far.
-That same day was the 1st time I was glad that Jeremy has a lot of stuff in our garage--like a shop vac. The 1st time I've been grateful for a shop vac (probably not the last).

And finally, unfortunately, not a 1st:
This is the third time Alexis has had a beginning of the year school assignment to decorate a paper doll to look like herself. Alexis loves this assignment and refuses all help, ideas or suggestions. Alexis' mother hates this assignment. What message would it send to her if I hang onto this doll so that she can turn it in next year, at the beginning of third grade, when I'm sure she will get the exact same assignment?

Navajo Lake

2011-08-09T11:00:00.005-06:00

A few weeks ago we took our kids camping with my family down in Cedar City, by Navajo Lake. I have too many pictures from it that I couldn't not share.
My mom found this little motorized car somewhere and fixed it up for the kids. Alexis and Tyler loved it, but it was really the perfect size for Ryan. He loved pushing the button to make it go.
But of course he doesn't understand the concept of steering, so he would go in circles or end up in the grass.
There was fishing. Boring, boring fishing.
Ryan fell down or tripped once every minute and got pretty dirty, but was a good sport about it. He was teething and had a serious diaper rash on his bum, that combined with the cold at night meant he really didn't sleep well in his bed. But once we put him in our sleeping bags he slept fine, which means Jeremy and I didn't. Oh well, you get used to being tired and carry on. (That sounds like a perfect description of parenthood.)
We went on a pretty, kid friendly, short hike. You could see for eternity from this viewpoint.
Tyler got dirty. That's his main objective when he's outside.
Alexis loves to camp. Both kids think sleeping in their sleeping bags is the biggest treat in the world. On this trip my mom printed up songbooks with some fun songs in it and Alexis loved to sit and sing them all.My cute niece, Celeste. She lives in Las Vegas so we don't see her much, but we LOVE her.
My brother brought his dog, Brutus. I can't even explain how happy Ryan was whenever Brutus was around. He was even happier that Brutus was always tied up so he couldn't run away from him. He's a very patient dog, fortunately.

Thanks to my family for the fun trip! Maybe next I'll get around to posting pictures from Jeremy's family reunion that was a whole month before this trip.

this was bound to happen at some point

2011-07-27T16:04:00.002-06:00

The other night Alexis put her shirt on Ryan. It's a form fitting shirt, so it curved his belly nicely, cut off his arms in a girly place, and hit around his knees, just like a cute little black dress.

Then she put her headband on him to make the outfit complete. And he looked like a cute, chunky, little girl.

It could have been a lot worse, like poor old Tyler got it when he was around this same age.

But Alexis now wants to try all her clothes on him, so I'm sure it will get worse. I'll keep you updated.

my kids, lately

2011-07-18T13:27:00.004-06:00

Summer is half over and we are still keeping busy. Here are a few pictures and stories of some of what we've been up to lately.

We went up Provo Canyon one evening with my parents, sister and brother-in-law, to have a picnic and take a short hike to some beaver dams. When we got to one Jeremy just kept on walking, straight into the water in his tennis shoes. So then I sent the kids in too, but as you can tell from the picture, the water was freezing! I love that Tyler has his tongue out in this picture.

Ryan dipped his feet in later. So far he's shown no fear of water, which is good but also a little worrisome. Jeremy's mom took all of her grandkids to an aquatic center last week and Ryan went under the water at least 7 or 8 times, and that was with me watching him like a hawk. Each time I'd pull him out of the water, he'd blink and spit and then keep on playing like nothing ever happened.

Speaking of Ryan, he's a little crazy. He wears me out with his constant movement, but is still the cutest thing ever. Judge me if you want, but I've discovered that sugar in some form makes him sit still and quiet for at least 3 minutes. This time it was a chocolate covered pretzel.

Do you like see-food??

Back at the end of April, Tyler and I planted some flower bulbs in our planter box. We planted them at the very end of the season, so we've had to wait until now for them to blossom. It's been fun for Tyler to water them, watch them, and wait for the flowers to show up. I haven't ever really grown anything before, so it's been fun for me too.

And apparently growing flowers is enough work for me, because the lawn has suffered. I apologize to my neighbors who overlook our tiny, pathetic backyard. We obviously need a sprinkler system badly because we suck at hand watering.

Any mom knows that kids are good for keeping you humble and letting you know what you're good for. Tyler did this last week when he--very seriously--asked if I was ever going to die. I told him that yes, someday I would. He thought for a minute and then with a concerned look on his face said, "Well, if you die who will make me breakfast?". Now I'm afraid to teach him how to pour his own cereal and milk for fear of becoming obsolete.

Lastly, today at the grocery store the cashier gave Alexis a bunch of stickers. This store never has kid stickers, they only have ones they put on food or bags, but they always give some to the kids. Today the stickers said "All Natural" in big bold letters. So Alexis put one on her chest on the right, gave one to Ryan, two to Tyler and then put the last one on her chest also, but this time on the left. I took one look at her two strategically placed "All Natural" stickers and had to keep the laughter in. I love the innocence of children!

June in a nutshell, kind of

2011-06-30T09:34:00.005-06:00

I never used to understand why people would let a whole month go by before they updated their blog. But I think now, three weeks after my last post, I'm beginning to understand. My beloved little blog is badly neglected because there isn't enough time to do everything that needs to be done, and writing a blog post when I've got a dirty house and bored kids just doesn't seem as justifiable as it once was.

Also, I have a one-year-old. And he doesn't stop moving unless he's getting into trouble. I forgot that fact about one-year-olds, but its all coming back to me now.

June is the best month of the year, but also one of the busiest. Three out of the five of us (Ryan, Jeremy and I) have birthdays in June, as well as my dad. They are all about a week apart which means we have birthday cake weekly. What's not to love about that? We were camping with Jeremy's family this year on my birthday, and at this stage of life that's about as good as it gets for my birthday. I didn't have to make breakfast, lunch or dinner, I didn't have to bathe any kids (though I probably should have), they played with cousins all day, Jeremy put them to bed, and I got to go out on the Rhino twice.

I turned 29 this year, and I've been thinking about how my life has changed while in my twenties. I think for most people that's the decade of their life that changes them the most, and for me it's definitely true. I got married two weeks after I turned 20, so it's hard to determine what changes and growth were a result of simply getting older, and which were a result of being in such an important relationship at such a young age. But while in my twenties I gained a huge amount of confidence. I still have such a long way to go to become truly confident in myself and my abilities, but compared to my teenage self I am now a confident person. I've also learned more about what my talents are. I used to think I didn't have any talents, especially because as a youth it seems that everyone focuses on "measurable" talents. Good grades, scoring well on tests, being the star of a sports team, being a performer, those are all measurable talents. Being a friend to the lonely, having an innate sense of right and wrong, being a good listener, dispensing good advice, those are all immeasurable talents and I've found most of my talents lie in that realm. What I didn't know when I was young was that those things are talents and that they are just as important, if not more than, the types most people focus on. I've also learned that some talents emerge later in life. Just in the past six months I've started to develop a talent I never thought I had. It makes me excited to think about what my life will look like in another ten years.

The thing that I find the most amazing is that I've learned all of these things and developed this confidence in myself all while being a stay at home mom. I haven't had a corporate world instill any of this in me, I've developed it all while doing a job that most people overlook as not being important. Yet, it's the hardest job of all and forces a lot of growth and introspection, and I consider myself extremely blessed that I get to be home with my kids, all day, every day. (Even on the REALLY bad days!)

Now onto those kids that keep me employed:

It has been nice to have Alexis home. I was a little worried she would get bored and that she would make a lot of messes. So far she hasn't gotten bored, but she has made a lot of messes. I think that will always be life with Alexis. She thinks big and her excitement and ideas cannot be contained. There's a direct correlation between how excited she is over her latest idea and how much junk is all over the floor of her bedroom; she simply cannot stop to bother with things like cleaning up. She is also a big help with Ryan. The other day she fed him all of his oatmeal without me even asking her too. I'm starting to really see the advantage of having a daughter first!

Tyler seems to be struggling a bit with being the middle child and with getting older and wanting some independence. He's had his share of troubles with Alexis, but she is also his best friend. When they fight, they FIGHT. When they play well together it's heaven on earth. He knows how to spell "Tyler", "Alexis" and "Dad" all by himself. Yesterday he wrote "DAD" on a piece of paper, then drew a circle around it and a line through it and then gave it to Jeremy. He was trying to be funny, and he succeeded. Then to really get at Jeremy he took another piece of paper, wrote "Mom" on it with a heart around it and gave it to me. And he hasn't stopped laughing about it since. He's inherited a funny trait from me: whenever he's concentrating he has to stick his tongue out. And since I'm trying to teach him how to swim now, he swallows a lot of pool water with that tongue always out. He has also decided to start complaining about having to turn lights off after he leaves a room. For some reason he REALLY hates that he has to turn a light off and will whine about it to no end. If it were just at night that we had this issue I would understand that he might be a little afraid of the dark, but he only complains about it during the middle of the day. Of all the weird things to get upset about! I wonder how long until he figures out that he should just stop turning the light on in the first place?

And that leaves Ryan. He once upon a time was such a happy baby who rarely cried, but he now lets his opinions be known. Unfortunately because he has yet to say any words, I don't know what those opinions are. He is just generally whiny for the last half of the day. Is he hungry? Thirsty? Tired? Bored? Uncomfortable? Sick of hefting around all of that weight? No one knows! Despite the whining (which really isn't terrible) he is still adored by everybody that sees him. He is a mama's boy, though he likes to tease me by always giving Jeremy a kiss when he asks for one, but rarely giving me one. He's thinned out some but is still very solid, has the worlds fattest feet (I've only found one pair of shoes that will kind of fit him), and has some very cute curls crowning his head. He loves to be outside any chance he gets and has recently discovered the joy of throwing rocks. He has also learned how to turn himself in a circle and will do that until he's dizzy. Then he gets mad because he's too dizzy to walk straight and starts crying. While he's crying he tries to walk to me so I'll pick him up, but usually ends up somewhere completely different because he can't tell where he's going. It's very funny to me, but not ever to him.
Now, I must go. I hope my next post won't be a year from now, beginning with: "I used to never understand how someone could go a whole year without posting on their blog..."

*All pictures are from our recent family reunion with Jeremy's family at Yuba Lake. It was so much fun and we are so blessed to be part of such an incredible family.

annual "first swim of the season" post

2011-06-08T11:34:00.005-06:00

Last Wednesday, when Jeremy got home from work, I took Alexis and Tyler over to the pool so they could swim. They had been begging for a week, but the weather hadn't really been cooperating, so I made them wait. We unfortunately haven't been back since because I want to wait until it gets a little warmer before I take Ryan in. And because I'm too afraid to try on my swimsuit.

We've been feeling the tight quarters of our little townhome lately. We love it here, but when we moved here 6 years ago we had one one-year-old and plans to leave again in two or three years. Plans change and families grow, but lately we've started thinking about moving on. (Thinking about it, that's as far as we've gotten!) And in the winter when there are toys everywhere and not enough rooms and a garage too full of stuff to park in, I really feel cramped here. But then I take my kids to the pool and I start to think that we can stick around longer. There is nothing in the world that is more fun to Alexis than swimming. You can see it written all over her face, as she comes up out of the water to get a breath, her face is plastered with a smile. I think she's even smiling underwater, she just can't help it.

So we are lucky 3 months out of the year to have that pool right next to us, calling our names all summer long. If we move we'll have to swim with the masses at a community pool...

This summer I plan to teach Tyler how to swim without that frog floatie. When he went on Wednesday he said that the floatie wasn't holding him up very well, so I guess he's finally gotten too big for it. I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to devote to it since I'll have Ryan to watch out for as well, so lets hope he's a fast learner!

uno

2011-06-02T14:10:00.007-06:00

Today my baby turned one.

He got a big green ball, balloons, and lots of things to prepare him for the swim season. What more could a little guy ask for?

Oh yeah. Cake.

For the boy whose favorite things are crayons (he likes to be sneaky and get them when I'm not looking and then suck on them), I felt a crayon cake would be appropriate.

I've decided I'm glad that cake decorating is not my creative outlet of choice. I have no patience for it! And it's hard for me to spend so much time on something you are just going to eat anyway (this is also my problem with cooking).

My first two kids needed help figuring out what to do with cake when they turned one, but Ryan needed no such assistance. First he tried to pick it all up...

Then he decided to lick a little off his finger...

And before long he had it all over his face, hands and tummy.

He would have kept going and going but I was afraid he would get a tummy ache so I finally took it away...

I've thought all day about what I wanted to write about Ryan. I've had millions of thoughts swim through my mind, but they never come out sounding quite the way I want them to, and I'm too tired to work at it. So I'll say this, whether or not it sounds right.

If I have any more children they will owe their existence to Ryan. He has restored my faith in babykind and in my abilities to mother a baby.

Before I had him I wasn't sure I could handle another baby; babies are hard for me because I have so little control. But the combination of his easy going nature, and me maturing as a mother over the past few years, has caused me to love having him as a baby. I've lamented often lately that I don't want him to grow up--I've done it enough that the kids have turned it into a game. They'll ask me, "Mom, do you want Ryan to turn one?" And I'll pretend to cry and say "NO!! NO!!" Then they'll say, "Mom, do you want Ryan to turn two??" And I'll pretend to cry and say, "NO!! NO!!", and on it goes until I have no more pretend tears.

I try to not have many regrets in life, but one thing I do regret is that I was not the same mom to the baby versions of Alexis and Tyler that I have been to Ryan. I'm so much more relaxed and appreciative of all the cute little things he does than I was with them. They were a little more difficult as babies, but most of it is me. I suppose I do have them, and the years I have under my belt mothering them, to thank for my ability to enjoy the stage Ryan is in.

In fact, just last night I watched him climb on and off of a rocking horse over and over, and I sat thinking about how it was the best part of my day. There's something so miraculous and beautiful about watching a strong, healthy baby learn and test and discover new things about their environment. Fortunately, I now recognize that.

And so, though I'd stop him from growing right now if I could, I am endlessly grateful that I get to witness the inevitable:

A child that starts as a tiny baby in my arms,

then grows into a toddler,

a young boy, and eventually a man.

Aren't I the luckiest?? (times three!)

**For the truest of Ryan's fans, here's the video I took yesterday of him playing on the rocking horse. I'm sure it's nothing exciting to most of you, but I loved every second of it. Also, I thought my regular voice sounded annoying on video, but my baby talk voice is WAY worse!

recovery

2011-05-16T12:07:00.002-06:00

On Mother's Day I decided I wanted to take a picture with all my children. I generally HATE having my picture taken, and I usually hate the result. But I've started to realize that other people do not hate the results. In fact, someday my kids might like to have a picture of them with their mom. So I sucked it up and piled us all on the bean bag chair, or "Rocky Mountain" as it's known in our house, and had Jeremy snap a few. Only two of them really turned out, so I'm sharing them with you. Even though it pains me to do so.

I'm not sure which one turned out the best. I've been meaning to post these all week but last week is a week I'd like to forget. It was LOOOONG and short all at once. It was packed full of everything but sleep. I spent more time away from my home and my kids than I normally care to (unless I'm on vacation, which I wasn't), and I had to move outside of my comfort zone a bit. And to top it off I had a cough and scratchy throat and sounded like a man all week. Listen to me, I'm such a whiner. Anyway, it was a busy and bizarre week and I'm glad it's over.

The one highlight of the week, however, was that for one whole day it warmed up enough that I could put shorts on Ryan! If you have ever seen his fat legs you know why this was the highlight of the week.
Today it's back to sweatshirt weather (on May 16th? That seems wrong...), but I look forward to warm days where I can gaze upon his fat rolls to my hearts content because they won't be hidden by clothing. And can you even imagine when I put him in a swimsuit??? My heart may stop! I told Jeremy yesterday that if we have any more babies they better be fat or I might not love them because once you've had fat (babies) you can never go back. (Which is ridiculous of course, I love all my babies.)

In other news (really, does any of this qualify as "news"?), yesterday Jeremy cut our grass for the first time this season and he cut a T into it. I remember when I was a teenager my brother, Peter, was taking his turn cutting the grass and spent quite a bit of time cutting his first name into it. Someday Jeremy and I aspire to having a lawn big enough for more than one letter, but for now I guess this will do.

I'm sure I have plenty of other things to write about, but this is all I can eek out now. Things to do, groceries to buy, kids to love on, bathrooms to clean, dishes to do (always), but I'm happy to be back to all of it. Except the dishes--some things will never change.

the last month of babydom...

2011-05-03T09:48:00.004-06:00

Look! I'm finally getting around to posting Easter pictures. But probably only because it's better than the alternative (washing dishes). The Easter Bunny got a little smarter this year and brought very little candy (about 20 small jelly beans per kid), one dollar, and toys to keep them active.

At our house the Easter Bunny hides the kids baskets

Jeremy took these pictures of the kids while I was still upstairs getting ready for church, and when I looked at them later I felt a sense of accomplishment. I thought to myself, while looking at the picture of the three of them, "This is what I do!" That might not make much sense, but sometimes as a mother it's hard to measure what you do all day, or to see the products of your efforts. But when I look at them in that picture, I see it. I raise happy, well adjusted, well behaved, good children. That's what I do, and it's no small task. And if you do that too, give yourself a pat on the back. Or order your own Mother's Day gift, like I did yesterday.

In other sad news, yesterday this guy was officially 11 months old.

Which means today he's older than 11 months. Oh dear.

To celebrate, yesterday he spent the morning climbing up and coming back down the first two stairs. But sometimes he would only climb up one stair and come back down; then, not realizing he was already on the ground level, he would stick his leg out behind him feeling for the next stair to come down. It was very cute.

He has recently discovered that when he covers his ears the world sounds different. So he spends a good portion of the day looking like this (minus the yogurt on his chin):

I'm also beginning to suspect that he will be more mischievous than my other two (which really wouldn't be hard to do), but it's hard to tell when they are only one because at this age they get into everything. Just a few minutes ago he found where I keep the kids crayon bags, which is really exciting to him because he loves nothing more than to chew on crayons. So when I saw he had found them and was holding a crayon in his mouth I said, "NO!". He smiled and saw me coming towards him so he quickly "ran" back to the crayon bag to grab another one before I could get to him. It was very obvious that that was what he was trying to do. But he's also so good-natured that he doesn't even get upset when I take the crayons away and close off his access to them. Either that or he's thinking, "Oh, I'll find a way back. Just you wait."

He walks anywhere and everywhere--though his gait is a little weird. He doesn't bend his knees much and he swings his legs out to the side and to the front of him in a small circle. He looks more like a lumbering giant than a little baby, probably because he has a huge tummy that precedes the rest of his body wherever he goes.

He is still the most pleasant baby to have around. I never (or almost rarely) think, "Oh great, Ryan is up from a nap, let the work begin." He is pretty self-entertaining, he isn't very demanding, and everything he does is the cutest thing ever, so who wouldn't want that around? He is a blessing in my life, one of the many that I'm sure I don't deserve but have been given anyway.

project file

2011-04-25T09:43:00.005-06:00

I just wanted to share some really simple projects that I've done lately. I haven't had much time for sewing, which is why it took me so long to make, or get around to making, many of these things.

First, I made the older kids summer pajamas. I HATE paying for pajamas, but I probably didn't save much money considering how cheap they have pajamas for sale at the dreaded Walmart. For these I bought a pack of 5 boys white undershirts to use as the tops. Fortunately for me, my kids are the same size so I only had to buy one pack. I dyed some of the shirts, while some I left white, then I appliqued designs from the fabric I made the shorts out of. Again, I only had to use one pattern (which I drew myself) because my kids are the same size. Though I did the hem of Alexis' a little shorter.

Those shirts are supposed to be black, but the dye didn't do the greatest job and I'm too lazy to dye them again. They are pajamas after all, they don't need to look that cute. I made three pairs for Tyler and two for Alexis. Which, of course, she demanded an explanation for. Does "Because." count as an explanation?

I also made Ryan a hooded towel, something I've been meaning to do since he was 2 months old. This is made out of a bath towel and half a matching hand towel. I added a pleat in the back to make it wrap around him a little better, and cut an "R" out of a really cheap washcloth and threw that on the towel too.

And then I attempted to take pictures of him using it, which really didn't go well.

This last project isn't a sewing project and is the one I'm most excited about. Ryan's room has been left mostly undecorated. We had grand plans for putting in a chair rail and painting the bottom half of the room orange, and then unemployment happened and we figured we should save our monies. But then we never got back to doing anything about it until a few months ago when I found this idea on a blog and knew I had to do it.

Jeremy cut the wood out for me and then I sanded and painted it. And then I attempted to nail one little nail in, which convinced him that he should do that part for me. He didn't so much love that, but he loves me so he persevered. And as he told someone yesterday, it was my project, not his, so it didn't have to be perfect. That's how we work around here.

After doing all the hard work of nailing, I thought he'd want to do the fun job of winding the thread around the nails, but he didn't think that sounded like fun. I'm here to tell you, it is FUN! Go make this, I urge you.

And that, among many other things, is what we have been up to lately.

4 words I don't want to hear in the morning...or anytime of the day

2011-04-17T20:54:00.003-06:00

I made a mistake this morning, and boy did I pay for it. I think maybe my mothering brain hadn't quite turned on yet, or perhaps I'm just dumb. After we were all done eating breakfast I sat down to change Ryan's diaper. He, as usual, started crying and trying to roll away. I didn't have it in me to fight so I decided to let him crawl around for a few minutes without a diaper on.

"What's the worst that can happen?" I thought, "Pee on the floor?" This was Poor Thought Process #1.

After watching his cute naked bum for a few minutes I headed back into the kitchen to finish whatever I was in the middle of. I promptly forgot about naked-from-the-waist-down Ryan. This is Poor Thought Process #2.

About 10 minutes later, as I was in the middle of making my breakfast, Tyler starts frantically yelling "POOP ON THE CARPET! POOP ON THE CARPET!" I didn't immediately panic because I thought, "Oh, I guess a little leaked out of his diaper, I'm sure it's not much". This was Poor Thought Process #3. However, I quickly remembered that he actually didn't have a diaper on at all, and that the situation was probably a lot worse than I thought. I ran into the living room, a little afraid of what I might find.

There, by the toy box, sat my naked-from-the-waist-down son. He was sitting like babies usually do, splits style with his legs out to his sides. And in between his legs was a nice pile of POOP. Poop that he was clearly interested in, as I found it all over his legs, his shirt, his hands and various other areas of the carpet where he spread it.

I picked him up by the armpits and held him an arms length away from my body. Then I stood there thinking, "Should I clean the baby first, or should I clean the carpet first?" I really wasn't sure what to do, but then my brain fired up. I remembered that I have a daughter that practices her mothering skills (also known as, being bossy) all day. I carried Ryan upstairs, where I found Alexis hiding with her nose plugged, and quickly rinsed him in the tub. Then I filled it with clean water and instructed Alexis to sit there and watch him. As I went back downstairs I thought to myself, "Why is Jeremy never around when stuff like this happens??" But really, it's better that way. I'm pretty sure he would have thrown up, and then I'd have two messes to clean up.

And in a situation like that, it's always best to look on the bright side of things. So here's what I came up with:

At least there was no poop around, or in, his mouth.

Maybe if I tried harder I could come up with some more...

-------

In other news, it was Spring Break this last week, and we sure stayed busy. We went to a few fun places with friends, played with cousins, dyed Easter eggs, and Tyler even got to go out on the Rhino with Jeremy and my dad yesterday. We also started the week off by getting tubes put in Ryan's ears. Both ears were infected when we went in, which helped validate my decision to get it done. He did really well, though he did NOT like coming out of the anesthesia. And just this week he's started to make noises that sound like words, instead of just yells. Now I'll share a few pictures to help get your mind off poop.

Alexis and some friends twirling in skirts from the Church History Museum

Tyler and his best bud, Josh, doing their best to break this sound board

Playing at cousin's house

Pushing stuff around in cousin's backyard

Jeremy sunk that thing good!

don't feel sorry for him, he's okay with it

2011-04-07T06:41:00.004-06:00

Just like being the oldest, there are advantages and disadvantages to being the youngest kid in the family.

Advantages: There's plenty of entertainment if mom's too busy to play with you, there are more people in the family that dote on you and constantly tell you how cute you are, you learn patience at a very young age, and mom and dad are a little more relaxed into parenthood by the time you come along.

Disadvantages: Why dwell on the negatives? All I'll say is, I'm pretty sure when Alexis was a baby she never had a sticker stuck to her forehead for several hours because some kid stuck it there and then mom was too busy to take it off.

I'm thinking of creating a special folder in my pictures file entitled "You can tell I have older siblings...". This picture could also go in there.

(In case you were wondering, I did jinx myself by going on and on about Ryan sleeping well. A few days after writing that he developed croup and hasn't slept well ever since. I think he's finally starting to get over it, but I'm not going to talk about that at all. I've learned my lesson.)

You can breathe easy about Tyler's hair...or can you?

2011-03-21T17:14:00.007-06:00

Did you hear that Ryan is sleeping through the night now? He has his last bottle around 7 or 8 pm, and then doesn't eat again until 8:30 am. He will occasionally wake up between 5 and 7 am, sometimes I hold him for a minute and sometimes he puts himself back to sleep. But you won't hear me complaining about that. It took him 9 months to sleep through the night, so I figure I've got no room to complain about some minor detail. Actually, if you have a baby (or any children) in your life, you have no room to be complaining about anything at all. (Though that doesn't always stop me...)

So, since I'm getting all kinds of sleep now, I feel like a new woman. The fog has lifted and I feel like the most productive person on the planet! I do a better job at keeping up my house, I've been reading more, I'm teaching myself how to knit, and I'm learning lots about nutrition and healthier eating. But most importantly, I'm more patient with my kids again! I knew I wasn't really that monster that was showing up around here fairly often over the past 9 months.

(I hope I haven't jinxed myself by going on and on about the positive side effects of Ryan sleeping.)

So, we cut Tyler's hair.

I put up a good fight against the mullet, and Jeremy put up a good fight for the mullet. So this is how it ended up:
Is a rat's tail better, worse, or just as bad as a mullet? It won't be around forever and I'm pretty sure it's less noticeable, so I'm okay with it for now. I just knew that if we cut a mullet I would be embarrassed and so would Tyler. He would catch on that people were laughing at his hair, and he's sensitive enough as it is. For the record, Tyler was also anti-mullet, but mainly because he wanted to get rid of his curls--he thinks they aren't cool. I told him that whatever he does is cool, even growing curly hair.

Also, this weekend the kids cousin, Mason, came over for a sleepover. They had a lot of fun with him and at one point were watching a movie all scrunched together on the couch like this:
And they all wanted to sleep together on the floor, so I laid out some foam pads and they slept like this:
They stayed awake until 10 pm talking about crazy kid stuff, and then as soon as they woke up in the morning they were singing the song from the Pillow Pet commercial. I was listening to it from my room and it made me feel like a kid again. Sleepovers can be fun! But they can also be a big pain in the butt, which is why we won't be doing them often. (This one wasn't, though.)

And this morning, before Alexis went to school, Tyler told her that after school they would celebrate his toy dinosaurs birthdays by (pretend) eating a cake picture that he drew in primary yesterday. But because I'm a new woman (see above) I told them they could even bake a cake in Alexis' Easy Bake Oven.
So they did, and we sang "Happy Birthday" to 3 little dinosaurs. Then they blew out the candles. The best part of having toy dinosaur birthday parties is that they don't have much interest in cake, so they share it all with their human friends.
They did dip their heads in the cake a time or two though.

Now some cute pictures, just for fun.

Alexis, wearing my boots

Ryan, just after a nap

And, just to clarify. I was VERY excited about the steps Ryan took in that last video. I just had something on the stove that couldn't burn so I didn't go running in to see. Each milestone for each kid is just as important as they were for the first. Unless they are the middle child, then they just don't matter!

(That was a joke, in case you couldn't tell.)

trouble

2011-03-14T14:23:00.002-06:00

Today I feel like talking about politics. And religion. And the state of the public school system in America. And Charlie Sheen.

Just kidding. I'm not even going to go there. I'm just going to show you a video.

Yesterday I turned on a Baby Einstein movie for Ryan so I could try and make dinner without him pulling himself to stand on my legs every time I turn around. He doesn't watch these movies often, but he gets pretty excited over certain parts when he does watch them. So Jeremy took the video camera out there to tape him watching a movie. Sounds boring? Fast forward to about 1:40 and watch something exciting happen. I promise, it's pretty cool. (Maybe I'm the only one that finds it cool...but hey, it's my blog.)

Also, my older two kids are equally captivated by those movies.

The Nine (Month) Wonder of the World

2011-03-02T14:18:00.006-07:00

"Duuuuuhhhhh...you talking about me?"

I'm aware that this blog has turned into a Blog All About Ryan, but I'm confident that if you had Ryan for a baby you would do the same thing.

Today marks nine months of this child's living, breathing air, life.

I'm scratching my head over how we got here. Wasn't he just born? Wasn't he just sleeping all day in his swing in the living room? And now he crawls all around that same living room, looking for trouble? It can't be the same baby!

This picture was taken yesterday...right?

The thought of Ryan getting older makes me pretty sad. I just looked through some pictures taken the month he was born and it was making me too emotional, I had to stop. I'm trying my VERY hardest to enjoy every moment with these children, and live in the moment instead of looking back and wishing, but the moments are moving too fast for me. No one ever told me that the more kids I had, the faster time would fly.

Ryan as a nine month old is a pure delight. I'm not exaggerating, and while I may be biased, I'm not blind. His smiles are freely given, he makes absolutely cute sounds and funny faces, and he rarely gets upset. Also, even though he's thinning out some, you still can't help but smile at all his fat.

He's freestanding in the middle of a room, walking along furniture, and crawls at a quick pace. He gets into things he's not supposed to get into, and watching him eat a graham cracker is one of my life's greatest pleasures.

He thinks his brother is the funniest person he's ever met, he loves to see his sister when she comes home from school, his face lights up when his dad walks into the room, and fortunately he still looks at me as though the sun rises and sets with me.

It's hard to remember what life was like before Ryan came along. In these short months he has wormed his way into all our hearts and is the center of our world. To say we love him would be a severe understatement! We are enamored, enchanted, and engrossed!

P.S. Did you hear? Tyler is Awesome--his shirt says so.

on "fired"

2011-02-17T11:29:00.004-07:00

I love to watch Tyler button his shirt. His cute little fingers that still have a little bit of pudge remind me that he's still my little boy, but their ability to actually button all the buttons on his shirt also remind me that he is growing up.
I also love the proud look on his face when he's done it all by himself! I should have taken the band-aid off his face before taking this picture, oops. And I know he really needs a haircut, but Jeremy wants to keep growing it out. In fact, Jeremy wants to cut a mullet again, but I don't think I can let that happen this time. Once was enough. I'm not sure it'd be as cute on a kid as old as he is, plus he's missing one of his front teeth now which would only add to the look. Back me up on this, I need support!

Meanwhile, I'm babysitting a 3 year old boy today and he and Tyler are playing great together. He is very well behaved and cute, but about every 30 minutes he comes to me with a toy phone and tells me, "My house is on fired! Call my mom!" So I pretend to call his mom, though I'm not exactly sure what it is he wants me to say. After I hang up with her I usually tell him, "your mom said she loves you and to not go in your house when it's on fire!" That's the best advice I could come up with, and he seems satisfied with it until his house catches on fire again.

Lastly, for those interested parties, the whole Ryan sleep situation is not getting much better. For three nights over the weekend he slept for over twelve hours, only waking up once to eat! It was super awesome, but...as I explained to Jeremy last night, the fact that he did that makes me even more upset now that he's not. It's amazing how looooooooooooong it takes to get used to waking up several times at night, yet how quickly you can then readjust back to "normal" sleep. The thing is, Ryan knows how to sleep. He puts himself to sleep every night and for every nap and oftentimes when he wakes up at night, but he can only sleep like that when nothing is wrong with him. And since the beginning of December, something has basically always been wrong with him. Either ear infections, a cold, teeth coming in, or congestion. Right now he's got a lot of congestion, and I'm afraid maybe now another ear infection. I'll probably take him to the doctor tomorrow to see, and if the fluid that was in his ears has turned into an ear infection we'll be on our way to an ENT to see about tubes in his ears. I hate the thought of that, but at least then we'd all get some sleep. And if he's this happy and pleasant when he's got all this stuff going on, then imagine what he'll be like when he's perfectly healthy!

See! He knows how to sleep!

And so does Alexis! I love her and her rosy cheeks.

raise 'em up

2011-02-11T14:23:00.006-07:00

Raise your hand if you're tired of seeing the backsides of girls whose pants are too low, their shirts are too short and their midsections are too large.

(I'm not complaining about midsections, I've got no room to talk, I'm complaining about visible midsections.)

Now raise your hand if you think this same low pants/short shirt/large midsection combination is adorable on babies.

Raise your hand if you think I need to clean my refrigerator.

And raise your hand if you want to be the one to clean it for me. First one with their hand up, wins.

Raise your hand if you think it's gross that I have a container of worms in my refrigerator.

I do, that's for sure. But Jeremy insists they stay. Compromise--that's marriage, folks.

I wish I could see when you're raising your hand.

Raise your hand if you think it's funny when your baby gets trapped between the legs of a chair, and then stays there for 15 minutes, perfectly happy.

I'm teaching him that there are consequences to his actions. Also, it was the only time in the last 2 months that he's stayed in the same spot for longer than 30 seconds (when he's awake, that is).

On a related note, I'm not typically able to change a diaper (especially not a poopy one) in faster than 30 seconds. Which explains the scene upstairs 2 minutes ago where Ryan was naked from the waist down, mid-crawl and reaching for something, while I was holding him back by one of his legs with one hand and simultaneously trying to grab a diaper out of his drawer with my other.

I don't even have to tell you to raise your hands if you've ever done that, I know you already are.

Raise your hand if you think it's funny that when the baby is under the chair, his toy falls just out of his reach and he cannot figure out a way to get to it.

Raise your hand if you think this blog post is going nowhere.

Raise your hand if you wish I would learn how to use my camera so that instead of a blurry picture, I could produce a picture that actually shows Ryan's new tooth.

Raise your hand if you are tired of snotty noses and gunky eyes, and are just ready for spring to show up.

I'm going to assume you are all in agreement with me on all of these things. Especially the last one.

Raise your hand if you never want to hear the phrase "raise your hand" again.

Lucky for you then, that Ryan is crying and in desperate need of his mama.

today I learned how to spell "chronicling"

2011-02-01T14:07:00.004-07:00

So, maybe you've all figured out by now, but I'm kind of a boring person. I don't much care for parties and I generally do my best to not ever host one. Which, of course, is why I was sent a child who has grand ideas for a party she'd like to throw at least weekly and is constantly begging me to let her have one.

Go ahead and feel sorry for her. I do.

This weekend Jeremy is going to snowboarding with most of the boys in his family, so the girls decided to get together and have a "girls night", plus nine kids, held at my house. Alexis caught wind of this yesterday and has been going nuts ever since. You see, Alexis is the oldest cousin, loves to plan things, and has a million ideas racing through her head at all times. This makes her a "triple threat". Last night she asked if we could make a list of things to do on Saturday night, and I knew there was no way she'd sleep until we did it, so I sat down with her to brainstorm. And boy did she ever have some ideas! The first idea she introduced to me was a 3 legged race, which she was calling a 2 footed race. I tried to sway her from this idea since there's not a lot of room in my house for that sort of thing, but she already had ideas for how to get around that hang-up.

I took a picture of the list she came up with because it's so funny to me. After each item on the list she drew a box, and then after we wrote down all the ideas she went through and put a check next to the ones she wants to do for sure, and any ideas that fall under the "maybe" category, she drew a check in half the box, and then colored in the other half. There were no "for sure no" items, no matter how hard I tried.

Because this way of thinking is so foreign to me, it takes a lot of energy for me to not get annoyed by this and brush her off. And a "planning" session like this can be exhausting for me, especially at the end of the day. BUT! But, I love who Alexis is and I don't want her to ever feel like she should be different. If anything, I should be more like her. She is determined, she is prepared, she is fun to be around, she is full of good ideas, she is a leader, and she has a zest for life! And I always want her to know I think she's the most special girl I've ever met, so if that means that I will be participating in a 3 legged race in my living room on Saturday night, so be it.

This kind of leads me into the next thing I wanted to talk about. You may have noticed my blogging has seriously slacked off lately. Life seems to have grabbed me by the wrists and started running, with me bouncing and dragging behind. As a result I've discovered lots of things that I DON'T want to be (mostly by becoming them), most especially in regards to the type of mother I am. So I sat down and thought about the kind of mom I DO want to be, and figured out what kinds of things I need to be doing to become that mom. This is all well and good, but it doesn't leave me much free time, so my blogging will probably continue to be slow for awhile. I'm not going to stop blogging because I love chronicling this fleeting time of life, but I just don't have as much time as I used to, and it's not top on my list of priorities. So you will most likely be hearing less from me, for awhile anyway.

Now for Ryan's adoring public:
I put him in a swing at the park for the first time, and he loved it. Though most of the time he just laid back like this:

Now, a few quick tidbits to round up this long post:

-Alexis, since Saturday, has been snapping nonstop. She snaps while talking about something, she uses it for emphasis, she snaps while dancing, she snaps while using the bathroom, she snaps while eating (or when she's supposed to be eating), she snaps while reading, doing homework, and I'm SURE she snaps during school too. It is incredibly cute, and it's always with both hands, never just one.

-Ryan has another ear infection, and I can't decide which is worse: the ear infection and subsequent lack of sleep, or the medicine I have to give him and the never ending, foul smelling diarrhea that results. Amazingly enough, he is still his happy charming self throughout the day, no matter what is bothering him.

-Tyler is still misusing the word "heck" and if I have paper nearby I write down some of the things he says. Here are a few examples:
*Does this thing heck come off?
*Are you heck sitting here?
*Is this heck a movie?
*Is it heck okay if Ryan plays in the laundry basket?

Believe me when I say, it is the cutest heck thing.

See you in a few weeks. Or tomorrow. You never really know.

more of the same

2011-01-19T13:19:00.003-07:00

Wow, I forgot how much more work a baby becomes once they are mobile! I spend half my day moving things out of Ryan's destructive path and making sure he doesn't fall off of something or onto something dangerous. Time may have faded my memory, but I SWEAR Ryan is more intense with this whole standing thing than my first two kids were. He MUST stand at all times. When you put him down for a nap you have to go back in there usually about 5 times and lay him down again before he actually falls asleep. One time, shortly after he learned to crawl and stand, I went into his room a few minutes after laying him down for bed just to find him crawling around his crib with his eyes shut while tiredly whimpering. He was so exhausted that he wanted to sleep but it's like his brain was saying, "MUST KEEP MOVING! DO NOT STOP!" So, you know, that's a lot of fun. Did someone request a fat tummy picture? You've come to the right place!

Also, the past few weeks I've been weaning him from breastfeeding. If you've ever done that than you can feel my pain, and you probably know what I mean when I say that Benadryl and cabbage leaves are my new best friends. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's better that way. Did someone request a cute picture of him drinking his bottle? I happily oblige!

It rained over the weekend, which melted a lot of snow, and yesterday was sunny enough and barely warm enough to take the boys outside. Tyler got to ride his scooter with some friends, but probably spent more time eating really old snow.

Tyler has also been doing some pretty funny stuff lately. Currently his favorite thing to do is hide when he hears someone coming into the same room as him, and then jump out and say "BOO!" I remember Alexis doing something similar around this age too. The problem with Tyler is that he's not at all quiet about it, so it's never a surprise. And he does it about 100 times a day, but I can only act surprised for the first 3 times before it gets old.

Also, he has started throwing the word "heck" into sentences randomly, and it almost is never used correctly, which makes it really funny. Today he said to me, "What is this heck thing?"

Finally, when he's telling you a story, he uses the phrase "and guess what?" a lot. Like, A LOT. Just a minute ago he was telling me a story about a dream he had last night and it went something like this:

"Mom, guess what! Last night I had a dream about a bakugan, and guess what? It went tick tock, and guess what? I was hiding from it, and guess what? It tried to find me, and guess what? Alexis and grandma found it, and guess what? They killed it! And guess what? I was happy they killed it, and guess what? It wanted to kill me!" And so on and so forth.

Then there's Alexis. She's still beautiful. She still keeps me on my toes and scratching my head.

The other night I tried to take a quick video of Ryan in his bouncer while we were finishing up dinner. As a result you get a quick peek at what dinner is like around here: Tyler is always still hungry and we always have to ask Alexis if she is done eating, and Ryan just ignores us all. In addition to that, in this video we get a burp from Jeremy, Alexis telling us the date so we'll always remember, and Tyler being really annoying. Amazingly enough, I didn't yell at any of them!

Ryan's taking a stand

2011-01-08T21:36:00.005-07:00

Ryan has been crawling for a few weeks now, but it's more like he's swimming the butterfly stroke than crawling. While laying on his stomach he brings his arms up, drops them on the ground in front of him and drags his body forward. I figured that since most of the time he's crawling he is not actually on his hands and knees I had a little while longer before he started trying anything new. But two days ago I was sitting on the living room floor watching Ryan play, while talking to my mom on the phone. As I was talking to her I realized that Ryan had crawled over to a little toy and had pulled himself up onto his knees. Next thing I knew he pulled himself up to stand, then knelt back down, then stood up again. I couldn't believe it--he's just barely 7 months! A few minutes later he crawled over to the toy box and acted like he wanted to pull himself up there too. I wasn't sure he'd be able to, but I pulled the camera out just in case. Good thing I did because he pulled himself up there, but then quickly fell over. See for yourself:

It was fun watching him do that, but I kind of hoped he would forget all about it the next day because I still want him to sit happily in one place. But of course he didn't forget, and the whole next day I followed him around taking pictures of the places he decided to stand up next. Again, see for yourself (a few are taken with my cell phone):

I think he had help getting up to the couch, but he did the rest all by himself. You can't tell from this picture, but I think standing up in the bathtub made him a little nervous because it was kind of slippery.

I guess he's out to prove that those stumpy legs are good for more than just decoration. And really, this is quite the feat considering the weight he's hauling around!

The award for "Most Memorable Event of 2010"...

2011-01-04T14:58:00.005-07:00

...goes to the birth of Ryan! (Was there any question?) This is also the event I'm most grateful for. (Was there any doubt?) There was never a baby more loved than this one. You can't help but smile when you see his fat cheeks, pinch his chubby legs, or kiss his round belly. He's the easiest baby I've had yet, and a pure delight to have in our family. Every second of every day I'm grateful that he is mine. And now, at 7 months old I'm wishing time would stop. All the signs that he's growing up (crawling, teething, weaning, eating solids) sadden me. I should be happy about them, but I just want him to stay a baby forever. Ryan's existence has also taught me what it really means to be tired. I thought I was tired when Alexis was born--I had no idea. I thought I was tired when Tyler was a baby--I was very wrong. And if it's possible to be more tired than I am now, I don't care to find out. His sleep has been so beyond horrible the past two months (there's reasons but it's a long story) that I've learned just how little sleep I can function on--it's pretty remarkable actually. Despite that, he still is absolutely perfect! That may not make sense to you, but that's just how awesome he is. Even if I were never able to sleep again, I would still keep him. (But let's hope it doesn't come to that!)

Runner-up for the Most Memorable Event of 2010:
Being unemployed for 6 months.
Half the year.
Beginning of May through the end of October.
Basically, a long time!
This is also the event I'm second most grateful for. (Surprised?) I've tried to sit down and write about this at least 5 or 6 times, but I just can't do it justice so I quit. And I still can't give it an adequate description. It was awesome and not awesome all at the same time (but more awesome than not). It was a blessing in disguise. It was exactly what we needed. It was good for our family and our faith. It allowed us to see just how loved we are. It taught us to accept service. It strengthened our marriage. Alexis, Tyler and Ryan all got to know their dad even better. Jeremy had the best summer ever, a time we jokingly refer to as "The Summer of Jeremy". I was able to relax and enjoy Ryan as a baby because I had help. We learned to better distinguish between needs and wants. We had confirmed to us that paying a full tithe is more important than anything else we could do with our money. We had more time to give to others. We saw that prayers are answered. We understood better that our lives are not in our hands. We learned lessons on patience. And we developed empathy for those in a similar situation (which, unfortunately, we know many).

Overall it was a good experience for us, which is kind of odd, but not every day was easy. I know our experience isn't what every one's is like, and my attitude about it may not be what most people's is, but I can provide a listening ear if you find yourself in the same situation. Also, Jeremy's opinion varies a little from mine because he was the one that was putting all the work into looking for a new job. I know at times it felt overwhelming, frustrating, and pointless. But we kept confident and optimistic (most of the time) because we knew there was something out there for him--and he did find something great. It's not his dream job, but he enjoys it, it pays the bills, and the schedule is a trillion times better than his old job. In fact, even on the worst day of unemployment he NEVER once wished he had his old job back. (And neither did I--we were burnt out there!)
Honorable Mentions of 2010:
Tyler played itty bitty basketball
I helped out a lot in Alexis' kindergarten class
Family vacation to Phoenix (and missed our return flight)
Alexis played soccer
Last Rhino trip (to Hole in the Rock with Jeremy's parents and brother) before the baby
Jeremy and Tyler participated in their first father/son camp out
Alexis "graduated" kindergarten
Jeremy and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary
Jeremy and the kids went on lots of camping or Rhino trips
Ryan and I stayed home and napped!
Weekend trip to a cabin with friends
Alexis turned 6 (and celebrated with a friends party)
Jeremy built us new bedroom furniture
Family reunion with Jeremy's family
Jeremy hiked King's Peak (quite the accomplishment!)
Ryan gained a lot of weight
Tyler learned to ride a 2-wheeler
Alexis started 1st grad e
Tyler started a weekly playgroup/preschool with friends and neighbors
Tyler turned 4 (and had his first party with friends)
Alexis lost her first (and second!) tooth
Ryan learned to crawl
We bought a new car, and the old one reached 200,000 miles!
Quick trip to Las Vegas for a baby blessing
My little sister got married
and we welcomed a total of 4 new nieces and nephews!

2010 was quite the year, and while I loved it, I really hope 2011 is a lot less eventful!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T14:25:00.006-07:00

Time for the obligatory Christmas post, I suppose. We had an absolutely fantastic Christmas and Christmas Eve, and the rest of the month has been alright as well, but I'm not sorry to see it go. Get out of here December, I'm done with you!

(I've been a little grumpy the past few days, so this post might seem a bit bitter. I apologize.)

This year I tried harder to focus more on Christ and giving, and less on Santa and gimmes. It's hard to strike the perfect balance with young children, but we did a little better than last year. And hopefully next year will be even better. Even if the kids don't notice it as much, I know I'm a lot happier when I cut back on some of the unnecessary aspects of the holiday and spend more time reflecting on the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ.

We took video of the kids coming down the stairs Christmas morning, so we didn't take as many pictures. But here's a few worth sharing:

Tyler opening "How to Train Your Dragon" DVD. They did get Pillow Pets, you can see his dolphin in the background.

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law made this present for Tyler. They used that spray insulation stuff, an old hard top suitcase, paint, trees, etc. to make a dinosaur landscape for all Tyler's dinosaurs. This suitcase sat under our tree for weeks and the suspense was KILLING Tyler. It was worth the wait, it's a perfect present for him!

Here's Jeremy pretending to be surprised about the drill he got.

Proof that Ryan and I (and Ryan's other chin) were there too. Alexis gave him this chicken. You squeeze it and it looks like it's laying an egg. Ryan's saying, "What the...?"

This is the present I was most excited for. I had several things I wanted to make for people this Christmas, but this is really the only one that got done. I bought some Fancy Nancy fabric awhile ago with the idea of making something out of it for Alexis, but I wasn't sure what. I finally decided to make her a messenger bag because she likes to take stuff everywhere we go, so I found this red corduroy fabric to match and drew out plans for what I wanted it to look like. But since it's a Fancy Nancy bag I had to make it fancy, without being too annoying. So I added a cute button on the front, all that red fringe (which was pretty annoying to sew with), some blue ric rac on the back, and that blue sequined ribbon that's down the middle of the strap. I LOVE how it turned out and was so excited that she LOVES it too. She was happy to get it and has since taken it everywhere we've gone.

Later that day we went to my parents house to celebrate with my family. Jeremy took a nap and Aaron and Tricia's dog curled up right next to him. We thought it was funny because Jeremy is definitely not a dog person (or an animal person in general).

And because he amazes me every year, here's what Jeremy made when my family got together to make gingerbread houses:
Of course, every year he gets mad at himself because he spends too much time constructing something, then he always runs out of time for decorating.

December 21st

2010-12-21T10:18:00.003-07:00

In case you missed the memo, today is the First Day of Winter.

Five and a half inches of snow fell last night, according to the Garfield ruler (the most scientific measuring tool there is).

the wedding

2010-12-13T13:25:00.005-07:00

In an effort to put off all the millions of things I have to do today and tomorrow and the next day, I'm going to share some pictures with you.

This past weekend my sister, Rachel, got married. We're very excited for her and are happy to welcome her groom into our family--I think he'll fit well. And because I happen to be married to a talented guy, and our labor is very cheap (very cheap=free), Jeremy and I tackled the project of the wedding cake. They wanted a cupcake tier cake with a small cake on top. Jeremy built the tier and it turned out beautifully (of course). Rachel and Nick baked 137 cupcakes and froze them a week before the wedding. Then with the help of YouTube and with the encouragement of a friend who makes awesome cakes but lives in Denver, I tried my hand at frosting them. Another friend, who lives around the corner, also saved us by making the top cake (which looked beautiful!) for us and came over and helped frost the cupcakes. We definitely could not have done all of this without their help!

And this is what my Christmas present from Jeremy looked like (still looks like...) after making at least 4 batches of frosting. I definitely broke that thing in!

We didn't pull the camera out much, their photographer was walking around taking pictures so I didn't worry about doing that. But I'm wishing now that I had taken pictures of my kids with Rachel and Nick, and maybe a picture of me with Rachel. Oh well, too late now. This is the only picture we did take of them. Jeremy took it when Rachel and Nick just happened to be standing over there, and I thought it was pretty clever.

But I did make sure we took a family picture since we rarely all look this nice at the same time. But just because we looked nice doesn't mean we can take a decent family picture--these will have to do.

Also this weekend we discovered Ryan has an ear infection--the first of my kids to ever get one. Unfortunately we didn't discover this until after a VERY long night of a lot of crying (mostly his). I'm learning that it is possible to function on very little amounts of sleep, it's just really painful to do so. Hopefully we've turned a corner though, and things will start improving!

upgrade

2010-12-09T21:15:00.003-07:00

I think this year's tree is going to give last year's tree a complex.

P.S. Look at what the little man has been doing recently:
You know what that leads to.

And, isn't he cute?
I suppose I can forgive him for never letting me sleep...

Ryan's new girlfriend

2010-12-02T10:06:00.005-07:00

Lately I've sat down to write several blog posts and I get almost done but then I'm interrupted. So I leave it sitting up on my computer for several hours until I can come back to it, and then when I come back to it I don't like what I've written anymore. It always happens to the posts that are more personal and share some of my feelings.

Feelings.

Feelings!

I always tease Jeremy about not having any feelings. I am 93% sure he has some, he's just really bad at sharing them! But lately I've realized I'm not much better than him, I usually like to keep things light and fluffy.

Anyway, this was one of those posts. I started it, got interrupted, came back to it and didn't like it. Basically what I was getting at is that I have lots of good friends in my life. Friends from the past who I know I could still feel comfortable with, and good friends in my present life who help me and sustain me and keep me sane. I don't know why I'm so blessed to be surrounded by so many good people, but I'm thankful for it. And I have feelings about it, but I guess I'm not going to share them!

What spurred all this is the little baby in the picture below, holding Ryan's hand. Her name is Emmy, and she was born two days after Ryan. Her mom is my good friend Karly that I met at BYU. I've written before (and shared some feelings) about my group of friends from BYU, here and here.

This is Karly's first baby and I think it's really cool that our babies were born so close together. She lives in California, so I was really excited to find out she would be in town for Thanksgiving, and I pestered her until she squeezed me in at the last minute for a visit! Oh and in case any of you are familiar enough with Ryan's wardrobe to recognize that Emmy is wearing his clothes, she had a blowout within minutes of getting to our house and thus had to wear boy clothes.

I tried my hardest to hate Karly because she's even skinnier than she was before she got pregnant and I'm...not. But I like her too much so I was unsuccessful. Also, she threw up A LOT throughout her whole pregnancy and it's hard to hate a person who has to deal with that. She has some pretty good throwing up stories though, and that's another reason I'm glad she's my friend--she keeps me entertained!

Lastly, I've been trying for at least a month now to write a post about an experience that has shaped our year, but the whole thing about my feelings is getting in the way. I can't seem to write about it to do it justice without getting too personal on this public forum. Hopefully soon I'll be able to handle it.

letters to Santa

2010-11-29T10:01:00.004-07:00

About a week ago I helped the kids write letters to Santa. I think this is the first time we've done this before Christmas Eve. What's the point of writing a letter to Santa on Christmas Eve?? Probably just to say we did it, and Alexis and Tyler never questioned the logic or made the connection that mom is lazy and that's why it never got done sooner. The problem with writing it on Christmas Eve is that the gifts are already bought and Alexis changes her mind daily, so what she asks for on Christmas Eve is most definitely not what will be waiting for her under the tree the next morning. Last year in her note she wrote to Santa that she wanted a Barbie Jeep. She asks for one of those every year--Santa is a bit of a disappointment in that respect.

But this year I realized that if we write our letters early I can tell them that they can't change their minds because they already mailed their letters to Santa. Genius! Why didn't I think of this sooner?
Alexis wrote her letter herself. I kept trying to encourage her to include things about how she's been good this year instead of just asking for stuff, but I think only one little sentence along those lines made it in. There are plenty of exclamation points though!!!
I love Tyler's face when he's concentrating. I wrote his letter for him but he's working hard here to sign his name. Notice he's a lefty--though sometimes he'll write part of the "Y" and then switch hands to write the other part of it.
These letters perfectly capture their different personalities. Tyler is fairly simple and doesn't need a lot of stuff so he only has two things on his list. Alexis is absolutely FULL of ideas. Life with her is a constant snowball effect. She thinks of one thing which spurs 10 more ideas which each spur 10 more ideas and on it goes. Her letter definitely reflects that--I'm just glad she ran out of page.

This year the thing they both want the most is a Pillow Pet. Someone please please please explain to me why this is such a popular item? Jeremy and I originally decided not to get them Pillow Pets, but then we realized that it's the thing they would be most excited to see so we caved. (Which is the main reason I don't want them changing their minds and why we wrote the letters to Santa.) Also on the list: silly bandz and an Easy Bake Oven. All of which I can manage to do!

***Thanks for all the stories and encouragement on the last post. It helped! I intended for that post to be funnier than it seems to have come across as, but oh well. That's what I get for writing on no sleep. I'll probably jinx myself for saying this, but I think things are improving as far as sleep goes. If it really does continue to improve I'll write more about it later.***

tales of the sleepless

2010-11-23T07:58:00.005-07:00

Well, it took nearly 6 months but Ryan finally broke me. Last night and early this morning I had my first real sleep deprived sob-fest of his life. Prior to this a tear has been shed here or there over my loss of sleep, but nothing like the snot dripping, body racking, cry as though I've lost everything dear to me kind of sobbing of last night. Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that when they've been pushed past the point of exhaustion.

The good news is that I'm definitely maturing as a mother. With Tyler I used to cry like that weekly! (Now you know why there is a gap of almost 4 years between the two boys.)

I wonder if Ryan remembers the time just a few short months ago when he would consistently sleep from 9 pm to 5 am. That was a glorious time! I've pondered and speculated on what could have caused the serious sleep regression that he has undergone, and these are my top four theories. Feel free to cast your vote for the one you think most likely.

1. His considerate nature is keeping him up at night. His good looks, mellow personality, charming smile, kissable cheeks, and fat fat thighs make him too near perfection. Therefore, so as not to shame the other babies of the world, he has elected to be a crappy nighttime sleeper. After all, he can't do anything about all that other stuff.

2. It's my fault. I got cocky a few months ago when I boldly declared to a room full of women the morning after he slept from 9 pm to 7 am, "My baby SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!" And now I am being humbled.

3. I am such an awesome mother that he can't bear to go a long time without seeing me or hearing my voice. Perhaps I'm learning that being too awesome is a curse.

4. He's a baby. It's what babies do. I can't take credit or blame for this, just like a mother of a baby who sleeps through the night at 5 days old can't take credit for that. (Though some of them definitely try to!)

My lack of sleep is definitely a problem, but even more than that are the side effects that come from getting no sleep. Nothing gets done. Dinner never gets made. Dishes pile up. The carpet hasn't been vacuumed since who knows when. I just spilled rice krispies on the counter, they'll probably be there until next week. I lay on the ground all the day long letting my body be used as a trampoline or jungle gym. I'm not shedding the baby weight like I should/could. And my brain feels as though it's been shut off. My thought processes are sluggish and connections are missed. The synapses of my brain used to fire off at a rapidity rate similar to a machine gun in the midst of a battlefield. Now it feels more akin to a lone man in a firing range with a single shot rifle.

Last night, during the 20 minutes that I was asleep, I had a dream that I had a page full of subtraction problems that I needed to solve. It was hard stuff like,
15.5
-30.2
-16.9.
But in my dream I could not figure out how to solve it. I knew I had to line up the decimal points, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to start solving it from the right or the left. Even now I'm only 68% certain that I start at the right. But the other 42% just isn't sure.

This all may seem contradictory to the post before this one, but it's not. It's all part of the motherhood gig and I still wouldn't trade it. But someday, I would like to sleep again.

I'm not sharing this in hopes of receiving sympathy, advice, or even words of encouragement. I know all too well how quickly this stage passes and I remind myself of that nightly. What I need from you is company. Misery loves it, after all. Most of you reading this are mothers, so share with me your tales of sleep deprivation. Make me laugh--tell me something stupid you did when you were tired. If you can't do that, make me feel sorry for you--I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself. And if you can't do that then I suppose a word of encouragement wouldn't hurt. And if you can't do that, then I hope you've at least been able to find something amusing in my situation, as I have tried to do.

pause

2010-11-18T09:57:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I was picturing my kids 6 years from now, when they'll be 12, 10, and 6. I'm sure it will be fun and I'm sure I'll appreciate not having to buckle everyone into a car seat all the time, and I'm sure I'll love that Alexis can babysit, but I don't want to be at that stage yet. Amazingly enough, I am happy where I'm at.

I love that Alexis is old enough to dabble in big kid things, like school, but young enough that she still wants me to lay with her at night and talk about her day. I love watching her spend her afternoon jump roping, and improving each day.

I love that Tyler is just learning about letters. I love the disjointed way he writes his name, and the proud smile he has whenever he shows it to me. I love that he's old enough to do most things himself, but still wants me around to watch him do them.

And I love that Ryan is still a squishy little baby. I love that he's discovering his voice and screams happily while playing with his toys. I love that when you hold him he looks around the room with his mouth wide open and his eyes darting here and there, trying to take it all in, and you can just see his brain working behind those eyes. And of course, I love his chubby chubby legs that I squeeze all day long. Everyday I look at him, and then I look at the older two, and I'm reminded how quickly they grow up. How quickly I'll forget just what they were like as a baby--the way they felt in my arms, they way they smelled, even the way they drooled all over me. And when I think of that I almost want to cry (no, I'm not sleeping much, why do you ask?) at the thought of him growing up. If I could pause time, I would do it right now.

The thing about this that I find most remarkable is that I still feel this way after a few of the worst weeks of sleep I've ever gotten. I'm up several (read: 5 or more) times a night with Ryan lately, and Tyler was sick last week and getting up a few times a night as well. But despite all that I still would not trade this for anything. Motherhood is not easy. You give and give and give of yourself until you've got nothing left to give. And even then your kids will keep taking. But what we sometimes forget is that they give back a hundred fold. If you aren't watching for it, you might miss it, but it's there. It's in their hugs and kisses. It's in their curious questions. It's hidden in their pants pockets, among rocks and candy wrappers. It's even in their smudgy finger prints on your wall. And it's definitely in the middle of the night wakings, when the first name they think to call out is "mom". I feel sorry for people who choose to not experience this because they don't want to give up their life luxuries. I pray for people who want this experience but have yet been given that blessing. And I hope that people who are experiencing this but don't recognize it as the blessing it is, will figure it out before they've missed their chance.

Now, I have a little man sitting on my lap that is giving back to me in the cute way he's chewing his Nerds and wondering if he liked milk and rice cereal when he was a baby. He can't understand why he did, but because he's only four he believes anything I tell him. So since I can't pause time I'll do my best to commit his perfect face to memory and not let these moments just pass me by.

I have a lot of problems...

2010-11-08T12:21:00.006-07:00

And they all begin with this guy:

(this is his current favorite face to make...he sucks in his bottom lip...
makes him look like a cute goofball)

Problem A
I cannot stop kissing his cheeks. I physically cannot. Whenever I lay him down for a nap I must kiss them at least 5 times each before I leave the room, or I will die. I'm sure of it.

Problem B
I need to tickle these fat chunky thighs and watch the laughing ensue. It's a need at the base of Maslow's hierarchy of needs triangle. I'm sure of it.
Problem C
His smile melts my heart. It is a problem when your heart is a puddle on the ground.

Problem D
His snuggles are too perfect. At night, after he's eaten, I should lay him down. But he snuggles up on my shoulder and falls asleep. His head is just the perfect round shape for me to run my hand over and over and over. And then I imagine all the little babies in the world that don't have mommies to do that to their heads, or to snuggle them late in the night, and it makes me sad--so I snuggle him for another 10 minutes. Then I imagine all the mommies in the world who don't have a babies head to fit perfectly in their palm and it makes me sad, so I snuggle him for another 20 minutes. All this is making me very sleepy, but I can't stop. If I do, I will die. I'm sure of it.

Problem E
This is the worst problem of them all. He is 5 months old and it feels as though I had him yesterday. He's growing up too fast and there's nothing I can do about it. Just this weekend he started rolling from back to front (on purpose), and pretty soon he'll be moving all over the house. Then he'll be running. Then off to school. Then off to college and a mission. And I will die--I'm sure of it.

In conclusion, I am in major love with this little dude. I am left defenseless against his persuasive baby ways, and he gets whatever he wants. Fortunately he isn't too demanding (part of his charm??) so there is part of me left to share with everyone else.

p.s. I'm beginning to think he looks more like my side of the family than Jeremy's, unlike the other two. Any thoughts?

I'm no Dr. Seuss...

2010-11-03T10:39:00.002-06:00

Two little pirates and their mother
went pillaging for candy with each other.

Upon many doors did they knock,
around the whole neighborhood did they walk,

Gathering candy from everyone
while having lots of fun!

Then the younger pirate tripped on a curb,
which made his mother quite disturbed.

He fell in a puddle and cut his lip
And was carried home on his mothers hip.

His lip swelled large,
But he was in charge

And insisted on going back out.
To get more candy, no doubt.

The littlest pirate stayed in and was just dandy.
{He prefers milk over candy.}

He watched football with his dad,
and smiled and talked, and never once was bad.

Finally to home did the big pirates scoot,
And dumped out their buckets to examine their loot.

They wanted to eat and eat and eat,
But their parents said, "just a few treats".

Because they didn't want to be up all night with the Comet
cleaning up little kiddie vomit.

Our Halloween really had blood and gore,
What about you? How was yours?

some photos to share

2010-10-29T16:06:00.007-06:00

Just thought I'd share some pictures from Tyler's birthday and our short trip to Las Vegas a few weeks ago. Thanks to my dad for taking all of these.

His party was held at a park, and I knew I was taking my chances with the weather. However, it turned out perfectly! I think it was high 60's and sunny. Here's Tyler playing on the playground with some of this good friends. We only invited a handful of kids because I cannot handle the chaos that comes from more than that. Plus Tyler gets too overwhelmed when there are a lot of kids around, and I wanted him to enjoy his party without feeling stressed.
Before his party I made "dinosaur eggs" out of paper mache. They didn't turn out quite as I pictured, but fortunately kids have great imaginations. We hid them around the park and then after they each found one they got to decorate them. Then when they took them home they were supposed to crack them open to find their prizes.
Opening presents
At the end Jeremy had all the kids line up with their legs apart to make a "Spanking Machine". Then Tyler crawled through all their legs and they spanked him when he passed by. It was really cute!
As far as presents go we didn't get him much, but what we did get him both he and Jeremy were pretty excited about. It's a model Rhino. It's even black, just like ours.

Two days later we drove down to Las Vegas for the blessing of this little girl, Celeste:
While I have 6 nieces and nephews on Jeremy's side, this is my first on mine. She was born the beginning of September and she is just tiny and precious. She's one of those babies that I think looks very girly--it's probably her lips. Those she gets from her mom, but her eyes are all her dad.

Aren't they a cute little family? I love this picture because Celeste has her arms up under her chin, I love it when babies do that!
My whole family, with the exception of Peter. The guy next to my brother Aaron is my sister Rachel's fiance, Nick.
Family tradition: goofy picture after the normal one. Not everyone got the memo.
Just the kids and the grandkids.
Then we took some with Ryan and Celeste, he's just 3 months older than her. But he's extremely large and she's extremely petite.
He had his legs up through the majority of the photo shoot, but if you had his thighs you would too.

Wait. No..you probably wouldn't.

Halloween pasts

2010-10-26T21:00:00.004-06:00

You know how there are a lot of things that you don't appreciate as a kid but later learn to as an adult?

This post is about one of those things.

A few nights ago I went on a tirade against modern day Halloween. I was spouting off about how it's such a shame that costumes all seem to be store bought, and it's to the point that kids are embarrassed to wear homemade costumes.

"What happened to the good old days of just gathering whatever crap you had lying around your house and throwing it together into a costume?" I spouted to Jeremy.

The irony of my tirade will probably become apparent in the following pictures. I too, as a child, was sometimes embarrassed to wear a homemade costume. Sorry to say it Mom, though I'm sure you aren't surprised.

Here I am, 5 years old, dressed as a pumpkin. Some butcher paper and a stapler. And whatever that thing is on my head. My younger brother there in the middle is a devil--this is a recurring theme. My older brother--well, what is that?

Here's the next year, 1988. My older brother is a tourist, I especially love the sunblock on his nose. We've got a little Super girl down there, and again the Devil. I'm pretty sure he's the only one that ever got to pick what he wanted to be for Halloween. And then there's me--this costume is recycled from the previous year. Tic-tac-toe drawn on my face, fuzzy dice earrings, a deck of playing cards glued to a headband, a checkerboard in front and who even knows what was in back. Do we have a name for this costume? I'm pretty sure this falls under the "gathering whatever crap you had lying around your house and throwing it together into a costume" category.

Here's an example of some store bought costumes, frankly I don't think they're any better than the ones my mom made us. Notice my younger brother as a devil, again.

This time he's a ninja. That's a little better I guess. My sister is a witch and I'm the Queen of Hearts. This is 1991, I think my mom gave up trying to make costumes because she couldn't top the previous year. Keep on reading, you don't want to miss the previous year.

1990--the picture below. My older brother was 9, I was 8, my younger brother was 6, and my sister was 4.

Obviously we have a well wrapped mummy and two ninja turtles--Donatello and Raphael. I can clearly see kids asking to be those three things. What I can't see, and I'm pretty sure didn't happen, was me asking to be what I was dressed as that year. I'll give you a minute to guess. I'm wearing a skirt, an over sized sweater, and gigantic red rimmed glasses. Oh, and I'm carrying a log. A LOG! As in, a piece of wood that you put in your fireplace.

You can't guess? In 1990 there was a show called Twin Peaks that my parents watched. I never did because I think I saw a minute of it once and thought it was scary. But on the show there was a character that I only know of as the "Log Lady". As far as I know she was a creepy lady that carried around logs. That is what I dressed as for Halloween when I was 8 years old. And for Christmas that year I probably asked for a foot bath. Just so you know, I did carry that log with me while trick-or-treating. I figured it explained the costume and without it I just looked like a grandma. I'm not positive, but I think dressing up like a grandma for Halloween is even worse than dressing up as the Log Lady.

So, what do I now appreciate that I didn't as a kid?
1. All the effort my mom put into making creative costumes, something different than other kids were wearing.
2. The fact that a few short years after these pictures were taken my mom called it quits and just started buying us candy the day after Halloween when it was on clearance, so that she wouldn't have to make costumes and take us trick-or-treating. How many years until I'm allowed to do that?
3.The Log Lady costume. Yes, I think I actually appreciate it now. Though that log really was heavy!

And at the same time, I do appreciate store bought costumes. It makes all of our lives easier--and a little less embarrassing.

Octoberlicious

2010-10-21T13:48:00.006-06:00

A miracle has occurred and I have a minute to sit down and blog! The month of October has absolutely flown by, and I just realized that I have one week to figure out Halloween costumes and come up with some sort of game or craft to do at Alexis' class Halloween party.

Last week we had Tyler's birthday and a quick trip to Las Vegas to visit my brother, sister-in-law and BRAND NEW niece. Pictures of all that to come soon. Since we've been back I've worked hard to get the house back into some sort of order because it was beyond crazy for awhile there. On Tuesday I scrubbed my kitchen floor, on hands and knees for at least an hour. ONE HOUR! I can think of many, many other things I'd rather do for an hour, but it badly needed it.

So here's a bunch of random stuff about our October that I feel like sharing.

We took another cousin picture with all the kids on Jeremy's side of the family. This always proves to be a difficult task, but fun too. For those of you who know his family and are interested in who all these kids belong to, let me tell you.

To the left of Alexis are Melanie's three boys: Mason (5), Peyton (3), and Tanner (6 months). To the right of Tyler is Shelise's daughter, Kylee (2) and her son Dallin (5). Dallin is holding Justin's daughter Katelyn (7 months).
I cannot express how happy it makes me that my kids have cousins they see often and that they love to play with. I did not have the same growing up, and I'm so glad they can.

Here's a shot of the three babies. Heaven help us all in about a year when they start stealing toys from each other and generally acting crazy, as 1 1/2 year olds do. And Heaven help Katelyn in about 3 years when Ryan mauls her every chance he gets (that is, if he grows up to be anything like Tyler).
Ryan seems to have pinned his arm under his torso and can't push himself up. These are the kinds of trials you endure when you weigh one zillion pounds.

Actually, he weighs 19 pounds. That is 97%, my friends. He is by far my biggest baby, and also my baldest. He had hair, it was blond and hard to see, but it just grew in wisps and definitely not even across his head, so I told Jeremy that I was finally on board with him buzzing it. He jumped at that and yesterday while I was at the store he buzzed it all off. He looks much better, but you have to look at him closely to even notice that he has hair. Jeremy didn't save any of the hair for his baby book, he just washed it down the drain. So we will pretend that it was not his first haircut. Does that even count as a first haircut anyway?

I just finished reading a doozy of a book called "Follow the River", the author is listed over there on my side bar. And when I say it's a doozy, I mean it. Don't read it if you are pregnant, have a newborn, or are particularly emotional. There were many times I thought about quitting, but it's our book club book for the month, so I forged ahead. I'm glad I did, but it seriously saddened me.

Does this picture scare you? It scares me.
That's a place in St. George that I know of as "The Crack". Here's a picture of my sister-in-law, Shandy, and I in it, taken from above. That was a few years ago.This last weekend we stopped here on the way home from Vegas to let the kids run around. I tried to go through it with Alexis, but I didn't fit. She likes to point out that I've gotten fatter. While that's true, that's not why I can't fit--it's actually because I'm a nursing mother. Too much information for you? Sorry.

I love this picture because it makes Alexis and Tyler look like they're the same size. Alexis is actually taller than Tyler, but I doubt she will be for much longer.
Also, Tyler is wearing Dickies shorts that Jeremy found at Wal-Mart for $4. I love them because they are tough and durable, and cute. Also, Jeremy has about 500 of those shorts in his size, so now Tyler really is just like his daddy.

Are you still reading, or have I bored everyone to sleep? This last thing is the cutest story yet. Every morning when I pack Alexis' lunch I write a little note on her napkin. I'm proud to say I haven't missed a day yet. If Jeremy makes the lunch he even humors me and writes a note for her. Sometimes I get fancy and write a poem or a riddle or draw a picture, but more often than not I just tell her how great she is or say something like "Have a marvelous Monday (Terrific Tuesday, Wonderful Wednesday, etc.)! Love Mom". Alexis seems to really like this and some days she comes home with the napkin carefully folded up and put somewhere safe because she liked that particular one so much. Well, I noticed her working on something last night and this morning, and before she went to school she told me I could look in this paper sack after she left. When I did, this is what I found:

A jello cup, a granola bar and a napkin that says, "Have a Thantastick Thursday! Mom! Love Alexis". It made my day, especially because yesterday I was feeling like a jerk of a mom. The best part is that she knows the word Fantastic begins with an F, but she wanted to make up a word to go with the Th in Thursday. What a clever girl!

Now I hope you all have a Thantastick Thursday as well! Anyone want to trade me their cookie for my jello cup??

Tig

2010-10-10T22:27:00.005-06:00

It's been a busy week, and this next week is going to be even busier, but I was looking at pictures that encouraged me to write a bit about my Ty-guy.

He'll be 4 on Wednesday. Like all birthdays my children have, this one has crept up on me and I simply cannot believe he is really 4. I still think of him as my baby (even though I have an actual other baby) but he in fact isn't a baby. He is less snuggly. He doesn't kiss me and hug me like he used to. He knows things only big kids know. He can ride a bike with no training wheels. He knows how to use a mouse and an iTouch. He can sit and listen to long books. He knows songs--though he won't sing them. He is really getting old.

Here are four recent pictures that show so well who Tyler is.

This first was taken last weekend as we celebrated all the October birthdays in Jeremy's family-Tyler, Ashley and Mike. See the face Tyler is making? That's the face he makes when people are looking at him and he's gotten shy. He sticks his tongue out like that and makes a funny little smile. He also does it if he thinks you are laughing at him.

Here he is playing a dinosaur game that his grandma gave him. He loves his dad, and he loves dinosaurs. Therefore, this is like heaven for him.

Worn hole in his pajamas--toe sticking out. Raggedy nails (please don't judge me for those), and dirty toes. Plus a fist full of silly bands.

Unfortunately this picture represents his mood lately. Tyler has a very sweet heart, but lately he's been a handful. His primary leader said it best today, "He is the sweetest boy. He's just very sweet. But he is still a boy!" We've experienced a lot of changes lately and he seems to be taking them the hardest. Unfortunately he has a serious case of middle child syndrome going on. I'm doing my best to rectify the situation, so hopefully things will change soon. But lately his face looks like this a lot.

But despite that look that I see a lot, I love having Tyler around me all day. Sometimes he gets bored, sometimes he gets whiny, but mostly he says funny stuff, he takes good care of his brother, he asks a lot of good questions (in his really cute voice and with his funny inflections), and he points out the obvious--which is always fun. He also doesn't seem to mind that we've given him about 30 weird nicknames (Ty-guy, Tig, Tiggle, Tiggy, Tiggy Wig, etc.).

Ah, that's better. Who could not love that face?

The thing I know as sure as day, is that our family would be nowhere near as great if Tyler weren't a part of it. He's shown us that every single day for the last four years!

nightstands!

2010-10-02T17:00:00.004-06:00

Remember a few weeks ago I showed you the bed Jeremy built and I mentioned that he was going to build nightstands next? Well, here they are.

Jeremy wanted me to make sure I give credit to the website where he got the plans. This website has hundreds of free plans, so if you've ever wanted to try your hand at building something, we'd recommend this site:

Ana White

Here's a direct link to the plans for the bed, and here's the link for the nightstands (Jeremy changed the measurements for ours).

Needless to say, I LOVE my bedroom furniture now (with the exception of the dresser), and it's amazing how I actually want to make my bed now!

As a side note:
I was only going to post two of these pictures, but Jeremy likes all three and his response to that was, "You post a million pictures on your blog but you can't just post three pictures for me?"

I suppose I can, but he better not ask for anything else for at least a year--he is getting extremely demanding!

speaking of chubby babies...

2010-09-28T22:20:00.003-06:00

This will be the last post wherein I declare my love for chubby babies--I promise.

Maybe.

So, if you will remember, I had a funny church outfit that Tyler wore and that I was excited to put Ryan in as well. This is what Tyler looked like while wearing it:

Why so serious Tyler??

Everything about it just makes me laugh. The striped shirt. The vest. The tie. The faux handkerchief sticking out of the pocket on the vest.

Anyway, I've delayed putting it on Ryan because it's been summer and I thought the outfit would be too hot for him. It's 3-6 month size and since he's only 4 months I figured I had time.

Turns out, I figured wrong.

"Why are you laughing at me mom?"

Thankful Thursdays

2010-09-23T11:35:00.003-06:00

Fat babies make the best babies. Skinny babies are good too, I once had one of those and I loved it, but fat babies are the most delicious looking babies you will ever see.

Babies so fat, they have rolls in places you never thought rolls were possible. Like the middle of their calves.

Babies so fat, you can't even tell they have a diaper on.

Babies so fat, their stomachs hold them up into a sitting position.

Babies so fat, they're happy!

If you are in need of squeezing a fat baby, I've got one I'll share--come on over.

digits

2010-09-22T16:03:00.002-06:00

Today Alexis came home with a little slip of paper. A boy in her class, a fellow bug club member, had written down his phone number for her, so she can call him to play. She's not big into getting her picture taken anymore these days, which explains the following picture.

I'm not sure if you can read that, but it says "80149825". I told her that unfortunately we wouldn't be able to call him because he was missing a few numbers, I assumed it was the last few.

A few minutes later this same boy called our house. Apparently Alexis successfully wrote down her phone number for him. I compared the number on my phone to the one he had written--he wrote down all the correct numbers but just missed a few from somewhere in the middle. You've got to love 6 year olds!

And you've got to love this chunky, hunky 16 week old baby. He happens to be the best baby there ever was. He doesn't have the greatest hair, but he makes up for what he lacks on top by having the most squeezable thighs you'll ever see.

And I just thought this picture was funny.

a few things, of late

2010-09-17T14:27:00.004-06:00

1. Alexis is in a bug club at school, with meetings held during recess. As the clubs solitary female member it is her job to find the bugs a good home--though I'm not sure what's wrong with their current home. Also, every time she says "bug club" I think she's saying "book club" and my first reaction is to say, "oh, what book are you reading?"

2. My right eyebrow sits just a tiny bit higher on my face than my left. As a result my glasses never look like they are sitting straight on my face. Thanks to the lady at the vision center for bringing this to my attention.

3. Yesterday I learned that if your baby poops while sitting in a bumbo, there is nowhere for the poop to go but up. And if your baby is wearing a onesie, it traps the poop so it makes a pocket of squishy poop in the middle of the baby's back at the top of the diaper. You are welcome for that visual.

4. If you take the training wheels off Tyler's bike he will become very familiar with the ground, only because he likes to go very fast and he's really bad at using his brakes. But when he's not falling, he's awesome at riding a two wheeler!

5. At 43 1/2", Alexis is the shortest kid in her class. The average seems to be about 47", with the tallest kid being 51". I tried to help her feel better about being the shortest by reminding her of people she looks up to (hardy har har) and thinks are cool, but who are also short (Hi Aunt Tricia!!). However, they are all still taller than her, so I'm not sure it worked.

6. Our trusty old Geo reached 200,000 miles today. And it needs to keep on being trusty for awhile longer, so lets hope it does. It's not the prettiest car, but it's always been extremely reliable and gets killer gas mileage, so I'm going to say that buying it 5 1/2 years ago for $700 was one of the smartest moves we ever made.
Jeremy pulled over and took this picture with his phone. Just think, when that Geo was made cell phones were rare, and I'm sure no one ever thought about putting a camera in one! What changes that car has seen over his lifetime.

Thankful Thursday

2010-09-09T11:29:00.001-06:00

I'm thankful for my husband's talents. Look at this bed he just built us!

Next up: matching nightstands, and hopefully soon some new bedding.

baby quilts

2010-09-07T13:52:00.003-06:00

Here are two things I'm not good at:
1. Keeping up traditions
2. Actually finishing things I start

When Alexis was a baby I wanted to make a quilt for her. I knew nothing about quilting but I figured it couldn't be that hard. So I drew a picture of what I wanted it to look like, made up some measurements and went to work. The result was not super fantastic, but it is by far Alexis' favorite blanket.

This was the best picture I could find of it right now...

So, encouraged by her love of the blanket I made her, I decided to make Tyler a quilt when he was born. This time I used a pattern and actually didn't finish it until he was about a year old (see flaw #2 above). The results were better than the first, but I've still got a lot to learn. And it's not Tyler's most favorite blanket, but he likes it and uses it.

Then when the third child came along I decided I wanted to try and keep up the tradition. So when I found out Ryan was a boy I started searching to see what kind of quilt I wanted to make this time. Then I stumbled across this and knew that it was what I wanted to make. She didn't explain how to make it, but it didn't look that hard--so I just guessed. I think I made the spaces too big between my squares, but I like how mine turned out anyway.

It was fun to make, really easy (and technically not quilting...), and I finished it two days before Ryan was born! Honestly it's amazing I finished it at all, I really do have problems with follow through.

Then, after I made it, I came across this on the web and knew I had to make another one. This time it won't be quite as orderly as the first one I made. I guess I should probably finish the other projects I've started before I start in on this one...but someday it'll get done!

And maybe by then I'll care to learn how to take a good picture of a quilt, rather than just throwing it across my couch and taking a quick picture. But I don't really see that happening!

Thankful Thursday

2010-09-02T11:17:00.002-06:00

I'm thankful that Alexis wears her socks like this everyday.

And that they come in a variety of colors, to keep it even more interesting.

It makes me smile.

gullible

2010-08-31T09:21:00.002-06:00

It turns out Tyler is really gullible. This of course means that I have lots of fun feeding him all sorts of "lies" throughout the day. I realize that probably isn't something a good parent would do, but it's too much fun and I just can't help myself. This is the conversation we had this morning. He came into our room and woke us up and after a few minutes he said,

"Mom, is Ryan still sleeping?"

me: "no, he's downstairs playing with a few of his friends. Katelyn and Tanner are over and I think they are playing with toys."

He thinks about this for a minute and then starts to go downstairs. This is remarkable because for some reason he refuses to go downstairs by himself in the morning. He'll whine at the side of my bed for an hour if I don't get up and come down here with him.

He comes back up a minute later and said "He's not down there."

me: "Uh-oh. I don't know where he is then. Oh, I know, I bet they went out in the sandbox to play." Remember, Ryan is 3 months old.

Tyler again goes downstairs to check. "He's not out there either mom."

me: "Oh shoot, I've lost him and his friends? I'm in trouble."

Jeremy: "I bet he went on a bike ride. I think he rode your bike Tyler."

me: "Oh yeah, yesterday he asked me if he could ride your bike."

Tyler: "He did? What did you tell him?"

me: "I told him he had to ask you. Maybe that's why he took it while you were sleeping."

Then Tyler comes downstairs AGAIN and checks in the garage to see if his bike was missing. At this point I turn to Jeremy and ask him if Tyler is messing with us too, or if he really thinks Ryan may have taken his bike for a ride. We can't tell.

He came back up and told us that his bike was still there so we suggested maybe Ryan was at the park. Finally Tyler says, "I think maybe he's still sleeping. Can I go check?" And would you believe it? Ryan WAS still sleeping--you can imagine my relief!

pictures of my babies, taken today, August twenty-fifth twenty ten

2010-08-25T12:04:00.006-06:00

This is my third baby.

Today marks twelve weeks of his life. He's recently found his hands for eating and saves all his best smiles for me. He also happens to be an awesome night time sleeper and in his whole twelve weeks of life I haven't once called my husband, my mother, or a good friend in tears saying "this baby won't stop crying" or "this baby just won't sleep!". And that is considered a miracle in my book.

This is my second baby.

Currently the middle child, as evidenced by the fact that I'm only posting one photo of him and two of the other children. Today he is wandering around like a lost puppy, unsure of what to do with himself. We played several games of "Go Spidey" (which is "go fish" with spiderman cards, of course) and when he was counting his matches he counted all the way up to eleventeen. Where do you suppose eleventeen falls in numerical order?

And this is my first baby.

She is the one that is tugging the hardest on my heartstrings today. Despite my best efforts she went to 1st grade today. She was nervous, but once she got her backpack on and we started the walk to the school the nerves seemed to dissipate. I was sad to see her go and I've spent all morning asking whoever will listen if they think Alexis is having fun, or if she's made a new friend, or if she found someone to sit by at lunch. It's scary to be a mom and send your still small child out into a big school on their own for 6+ hours. But we've armed her with all we know how. She's confident, she knows she's good at making friends, she's smart, and she's one of the best readers you've ever seen in a 6 year old--I think she'll be okay. The real question is, how will the rest of us do without her everyday?

The upside of this is that my house will stay a little cleaner--she is by far the messiest kid I have. The Queen of the "drop it where I am and never give it a second thought" way of living. Now that is her teachers problem for half the day.

6

2010-08-15T13:48:00.002-06:00

Last Friday, late in the evening, I looked at the calendar to check the date: August 13th.

Friday.

Friday the 13th!

As soon as I made the connection my mind went back six years, when August 13th, 2004 also fell on a Friday. I remember that because I spent many months thinking about when that day would come--it was Alexis' due date. I've learned since then that due dates mean nothing to my body but everything to my mental sanity. My body gladly passes them by, but my mind refuses to let them pass.

6 years ago Friday the 13th came and went with no signs of an arrival in the form of a baby. My stomach was still large. I was having no contractions, making no progress. I had also quit working and had nothing to do to occupy my mind. On Saturday I complained a lot. On Sunday I went to church with a frown on my face because I wasn't supposed to be there, and complained a lot. On Monday I sent Jeremy off to work with a warning to stay by the phone, and complained a lot. On Tuesday still nothing had changed but I had hope in my heart because I was going to see the doctor! He sent me to the hospital for a stress test which revealed that the baby needed to come out, whether she wanted to or not. Unfortunately for all of us, she did not. But finally, on Wednesday, at 9:01 am, she showed her beautiful face. And I stopped complaining.

Every addition to a family alters it and makes an impact, but the first child is always the biggest change. Alexis changed our family in a huge way almost 6 years ago, and she continues to change me every single day.

She is a delight.
She is a challenge.
She is beautiful.
She is smart.
She is kind.
She is talented.
She is a friend.

And this week she turns six years old. It seems like almost every day this summer I've watched her do something and thought to myself, "When did she get so big?" Shes grown up a lot the past few months and I can't believe the changes that have taken place right before my very eyes.

I marvel constantly that something so beautiful came from Jeremy and I. And that I get to be the mother of someone like her. Someone so full of potential and ability and pure awesomeness.

And I hope she's excited about the silly Silly Bandz we got her for her birthday.

almost like playing dead

2010-08-06T12:23:00.003-06:00

There is no question that Ryan is loved around here. In fact, he is too loved and often mauled by the kids. Sometimes when they are surrounding him with their craziness I see his face go blank and he stares off into space as if he's checked out of reality. It's at that point that I imagine he's gone to his "happy place" and is reciting to himself, "it'll all be over soon...it'll all be over soon...it'll all be over soon..."

It's undoubtedly the best survival technique for a person with little control over their limbs.

Ryan, in his "happy place"

Blessing Day

2010-08-02T12:46:00.003-06:00

Whew! Now is the point in the summer where I begin to wonder where the summer has gone and marvel at the fact that it's almost over. Even with having a newborn I feel like we've had a busy summer. Jeremy and the kids definitely have, while I've mostly just watched them come and go. But last week was pretty crazy and I'm glad to have this week to recover before the craziness picks up again.

Yesterday in church Ryan was blessed. I got the crazy idea to make his blessing outfit and cut out all the pieces about a month ago. Then I had him weighed and realized he might not actually fit into it by the time he was supposed to wear it. So as I made it I had to adjust the seams which made for some interesting sewing. It ended up fitting well, but the leg holes were a little tight around his chubby thighs. I'm just amazed that I actually finished it in time (and a week ahead of time, not even the night before I needed it!), because I'm notorious for starting projects and never actually finishing them. I've got a few more recent sewing projects that I've actually finished that I need to share too.

And speaking of sewing, look at this really bad picture that I took with my phone:
He needed something sewn and I had to feed Ryan, so I set him up and he did it himself. I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture. He's a jack of all trades.

Baby crying, kids screaming, lunch needs to be made. It's crazy over here but I wouldn't trade it!

7 weeks

2010-07-21T18:18:00.002-06:00

The past week or two Ryan has been teasing us. He smiles, but I've never been sure that it's at us. But TODAY. Today, he smiled! Several big grins, right at me. I'm 100% sure that it was meant for me, and it made me laugh like a little girl. And then he did it again. And I laughed some more. And then, and then, and then...he punched himself in the eye and all the fun ended. Darn those uncontrollable arms.

Also, on this day that marks 7 weeks of his life, I wore a belt. I've been dreaming of wearing a belt for at least 5 months, and today it finally happened. Of course the pants are a size or two larger than I care for, but we've got to take things one step at a time.

Who needs photoshop to make a picture decent
when you've got strategically placed bubbles?

And in unrelated news, our house has been taken over by flies. It's not because of dirty dishes, I swear my kitchen is clean. Jeremy killed 5, and then the fly swatter broke, and there's still at least 5 flying around. What is going on? Yesterday Alexis saw one fly into the bathroom, so she quickly shut the door and from the outside shoved towels under the door so they couldn't fly out. That girl is a quick thinking problem solver, I tell ya!

I've got more to say, and I'll probably never get around to it. It seems like my life is now lived in quick moments, small increments of time. Someone always needs something. But now, it's family movie night--Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hopefully this won't scare the kids...

awol

2010-07-11T22:03:00.003-06:00

I'm having a hard time pulling myself away from this guy:Can you blame me?

p.s. apparently it's possible to overfeed a baby. Who knew? He's now a big chunk at a whopping 11 1/2 pounds and not even 6 weeks old. The good news is that I can spend a little less time feeding him...

the many faces of Alexis

2010-06-30T11:36:00.003-06:00

The other night Jeremy took the two older kids camping, in equal parts to get them out of my hair and because everyone in this house is bored. From what I hear the three of them had a great time and came back very dirty. It's a well known fact of camping that there is a direct correlation between the amount of dirt you come home covered in to the amount of fun you had. They were excited to show me the pictures they took while camping, and there were some good ones. But some of the best are the pictures Alexis took. She took over the camera duties for awhile, and as she's wont to do, she took numerous self portraits. I thought I'd share a few of them with you.

First she starts with a smile:

Then she sees what she can do with her tongue:

Then she tries a more serious face, at an angle:

And there are several more, like the "how close can I get to my eye to take a picture?" and quite a few where only half of her face is actually in the frame. But this next one is my very favorite. I would even consider framing it, but it's a face I already see several times a day.
Here are a few other sweet pictures from the trip.

(She's scratching his back!)

Ryan lately

2010-06-26T16:06:00.003-06:00

Ryan's going through a bit of "phase".

He sleeps a lot and keeps odd hours. He doesn't speak to us and hardly responds when we talk to him.

His forehead is riddled with acne buds. He's gained weight, most noticeably around his thighs, and he's got enough gas to fuel a small automobile. Or at the very least, a lawnmower.

Fortunately, at 3 weeks old, all these things are still adorable.

Unfortunately, he'll probably be going through the same "phase" about 15 years from now.

whole

2010-06-22T16:23:00.005-06:00

Now that I'm not pregnant and in a permanent state of grumpiness, I remember how truly blessed I am. This picture reminds me of that. Jeremy spent quite a bit of time finding (and repairing) new (to them) bikes for the kids and they couldn't be more thrilled. Those license plate name tags were a pure stroke of genius. What kid wouldn't love to have their name on their bike?

It's funny how sometimes you can be missing something and not even know it. Recently I realized that's how life has been for me for awhile. For the past nine months we've been anticipating an addition to the family, thinking about what he'd be like, what he'd look like and how it would feel to have him here with us. But the whole time, though we thought about him often, he was missing.

This past weekend was the first time we ventured out, all 5 of us together, at the same time. And I couldn't get over the feeling I kept having. The feeling that life was complete--Ryan made it complete. I'm not saying that we won't have more kids someday, but for now my life feels complete and I am content. I consider myself very fortunate to spend my days with these three littles buzzing about me.

And then there's this guy, who makes it very possible for me to enjoy this stage of life.

He was neglected this Fathers Day and had a pretty lame birthday last week, but hopefully he knows how much he is loved, adored, and appreciated by every member of this family. He is a great dad and is raising our kids to be impervious to teasing by teasing them constantly. And they love it!

I have more to share but I can't stop staring at my new son, so it will have to wait.

spell check doesn't know what meconium is, do you?

2010-06-11T18:58:00.004-06:00

Well, I bet you can't guess what I'm going to write about today, can you?

I apologize if you don't come here to read about my kids, but since I sit around doing nothing but feeding a new baby every 3 hours, you can understand why my thoughts are so focused in that one direction.

Actually, if you don't come here to read about my kids then I'm at a loss for why you come. That's all I ever write about!

Gas smiles. I like to pretend that he thinks I'm funny, but we all know the real reason he's smiling--he is a particularly gassy fellow. Did I mention that he filled at least 13 diapers in the hospital with meconium? I'm not exaggerating either. The pediatrician said that's probably how he lost 10 1/2 ounces in 2 days. And do you know how you can tell I'm a third time mom instead of a first time mom? Because during that first diaper change I was all alone in the hospital room, changing him on my lap (on top of his and my blankets), when he started to poop. I had already removed the diaper at this point, and had two options. One, I could let it get on the sheets, or two, I could catch it with my bare hand. Go ahead and guess which I did, and then think about which you would do.

What? You don't come here to read about my kids poop? Fine, I'll move on.

How about pee? This time it's about Tyler. I had hoped he would be old enough and potty trained long enough that we wouldn't have any regression. I was wrong. Several nights in a row he wet the bed, and then peed his pants in a few unfortunate places throughout the first few days of bringing Ryan home. He seems to be over it now, fortunately. But now he's getting up insanely early (for him) and remains grumpy throughout the whole day. Not sure what to do about that, other than count my many blessings that Jeremy is here to help.

Here's Ryan with his cousin Tanner who is 2 months older than him. Including Ryan, there have been/will be 4 babies born on Jeremy's side of the family in 2010. He's going to have plenty of cousins to play with! And then on my side the kids' very first cousin will be born in August.

Babies, babies, babies.

If I were in Relief Society right now, here is what I'd share in the good news minute:

I must be starting to look normal again because my kids haven't asked me in a day or two why my stomach is still fat!

Speaking of which, in the hospital Alexis asked me why my face looked funny. I thought I looked fairly normal, but according to her "the details" looked weird. Leave it to her to keep me humble.

the tiny tyrant

2010-06-07T18:11:00.003-06:00

Last night (or the night before...who knows at this point), in the middle of the night, Jeremy and I were both found leaning over the crib of our new little guy Ryan, watching to see if he was going to settle in or if he would start squirming again.

I waited anxiously, silently praying in my head that he'd stay asleep so that I could lay down as well, while Jeremy was probably just wondering how long he had to stand there before he could go back to bed. As we stood there the thought came into my head, "How come something so tiny rules us this way? And how come people choose this voluntarily?" It was a question of wonderment, not resentment. Because, as any parent will tell you, one look at that tiny little face, those tiny little hands, arms and legs, and that squishy little body makes it all worth it. Babies may be small but they contain an incredible ability to bring large amounts of love into the home. Even a home that's already filled with love.

See? Everything about this little man just screams "Love me!", and I'm happy to oblige.

Ryan, so far, seems to be quite the content little baby. He doesn't fuss much, mostly when he's gassy or hungry. We're still working on switching our nights and days around and sleeping in his crib at night, but we'll get there.

As you can see he is loved by his brother and sister, despite Alexis' declaration on his first day home that it was no fun to have "that baby" here because he doesn't do anything. Maybe I should have been clearer to them about what kind of baby we'd be bringing home. We didn't bring home the smiling, playful baby. We brought home one of the slug variety. But he's grown on them and they find ways to play with him anyway.

Tyler's been funny with his concerns over the things Ryan does. His biggest concern for awhile was the fact that Ryan was pooping in his diaper. He couldn't believe that was allowed! And pee too? He really won't get in trouble for that??

The first few days home are always hard to adjust, especially for me. I don't like just sitting home not feeling normal, and the kids were catching on to my mood. Today's been better, and hopefully each day will get continually better.

Quick birth summary: I waited all morning on Wednesday for the hospital to call and tell me what time to come in. They finally called around 1:30 and asked me to be there in a half hour. On the way I told Jeremy that I was going to guess, quite optimistically, that I'd be done with labor by 6:30 pm, only 4 1/2 hours from then. When I got there they had the pitocin in, and my water broke by 2:30. Contractions came on quickly, but I stuck with them as long as I could. I finally asked for my epidural a little after 4, and by the time he had it all in and done it was 4:45. At that point I was dilated to a 6 (when I came into the hospital I was a 3), and within 15 minutes I'd dilated to an 8. I was still feeling the contractions in my abdomen and lower back, though, and they were constant. I finally called my nurse in to see if there was anything they could do to ease the pain in my back. She checked me again and I was at a 10 (this was all within 25 minutes of having the epidural in). She declared the best pain relief for my back was to just get the baby out. They called my doctor, and had me push once while we were waiting, which made her nervous about how long it was taking the doctor to come. But he showed up, I pushed through one contraction and Ryan was here, at 5:23 pm. They laid him on my stomach and I had the biggest sense of deja vu because I thought he looked just like Tyler. Ryan has proved that my kids features don't have too many variations, but I figure that's okay because they are so cute. Why mess with a good thing?

Also, I was only in the hospital for 2 days, but somehow my kids both grew a foot while I was gone. Seriously, where did they get such long legs??

He's here!

2010-06-04T14:46:00.001-06:00

Ryan Anthony

8 Lbs 4 oz
20 in long
Healthy, cute, and much loved!

...more later...

you know what it's time for!

2010-05-28T22:43:00.003-06:00

Another picture from my phone. I swear I'm not going to turn into one of those people who only takes pictures with her phone and never with a real camera. But this wouldn't be my blog if I didn't document the first swim of the season, right?

It was windy, and about to rain at any minute, but my kids are die-hards. Or at least Alexis is--and you know all about her persuasive powers. I did not get in this time. Jeremy asked me why I didn't, since I have a maternity suit, so I told him that I'm pretty sure maternity suits are not meant for 39 week belly's.

The flu is making it's way through our house, and I hope it leaves for good before this new little guy arrives. I had it last weekend, Tyler had it on Wednesday, and now Jeremy's got it. It's a pretty nasty version of the flu, but it moves quickly, so hopefully Jeremy will be better soon.

Did you know that Wednesday is the day? Well really, it could be any day now. I went to the doctor and I'm dilated to a 3, which has never in my life happened before. With my previous two kids I never got past a 1 until they hooked me up to the Pitocin. So there's hope for me yet. But even if nothing happens until Wednesday, I'm still pretty proud of myself!

Yesterday Alexis "graduated" from kindergarten. I'm generally not of the mindset that it's necessary to throw graduation ceremonies and parties for things like preschool and kindergarten, but I have to admit it was pretty cute to see her up there with her class, and receiving her "diploma". I can't believe it was 9 months ago that she started kindergarten, and even though I'm afraid it's going to be a long summer, I'm really not ready to part with her all day long, starting in the fall. Kids really do grow up too fast.

Have I mentioned that I'm a little afraid of change? And there's a lot of it coming at me fast. I wonder if I can get it stop by throwing a big fit. Although I suppose life would just be easier if I learned to roll with it instead.

(But I might try the fit, just to see.)

(P.S. Do you think once this life sucking entity is no longer in my body, my blog might get funny again? I hope so, because even I'm bored reading my latest entries.)

buddy system

2010-05-19T12:22:00.002-06:00

I love these kids. I really, really do. I took this picture today at the library because it reminded me of how they really are with each other. He's looking at a book about dinosaurs (of course) and she's looking at a Fancy Nancy book (of course), and they are smashed on that little couch together, neither one complaining. Occasionally Tyler will say, "Alexis, look a T-Rex!" and she'll hurry and look. Or she'll point out something funny in her book and he'll laugh along with her. It was all very sweet and cute and a good reminder to me of what good, loving kids they really are.

Because lately they've been crazy. And that is an understatement.

Two weeks from today I'll be induced (I've given up hope that the baby will come on his own), and I think the kids sense the change coming. Obviously they know about the baby, but they don't know what it will do to their world. But they sense it.

And on top of that we've had another recent change that has altered our world. I've tried to make the change an easy transition for them. I've tried to make it something they don't even notice, but they seem to be able to feel it. And the combination of these two things have made them C.R.A.Z.Y!

It was about this time in my pregnancy with Tyler that I started to panic for Alexis. I realized that her world was about to be rocked and I felt pretty bad about it. I worried that she would be lonely and feel abandoned. This time around, I don't feel those things. And I think it's because of the closeness that is evident in the picture above. They'll always have Jeremy and I, but if in the next few weeks they don't feel like they do, hopefully they'll feel like they have each other.

That is if they haven't killed each other before then.

2010-05-10T20:21:00.003-06:00

It's been almost two weeks since I last blogged, I think that's a record for me. Besides the pregnancy we've got other things going on here that are a bit distracting. That would be my excuse, but mostly it's the pregnancy.

I believe my stomach has reached maximum capacity, so I'm hoping it'll stop stretching. And the bigger my stomach gets, the dumber my brain gets. Go ahead and bring up something intelligent around me, it'll be good for a laugh. Which leads me to wonder why I continue to watch Jeopardy nightly?

I'm down to 3 1/2 weeks or less! I've been experiencing pre-labor things that I never experienced with my first two, so I'm holding out hope that my body may actually go into labor on it's own this time. Jeremy finds that funny, so at least I've given him a reason to tease me.

I thought I'd share a few recent proud parenting moments, just for fun.

I've noticed lately that Alexis' manipulation tactics have expanded and she now uses prayer as a form of it. When given the opportunity to say our nightly family prayer, she'll often pray that Tyler stops doing whatever behavior she finds bad or undesirable. Occasionally if she's plenty upset with me she'll pray for me also, but it most often is directed at Tyler.

Tonight while we were up in the kids room putting them to bed, Jeremy pulled out his phone and opened up some "fart noise" app that he has on it. Tyler wanted a turn making a noise on the phone so Jeremy told him to go fart then. Tyler went over and sat on a chair, looked at us for about ten seconds, and then sure enough, farted on command. I'm pretty sure Jeremy will use that story someday when bragging about his kids. I just find it amazing.

Here's a cute picture of the kids taken the first night we moved them into the other bedroom, with their new bedding.
And lastly, here's a video that shows a fairly daily occurrence around here. I used to wrestle with my kids before I started growing another one in my stomach, and I think Tyler has really missed it. Now he knows that his only source of wrestling is Jeremy, so the minute Jeremy walks in the door from work something triggers in Tyler and he becomes insane. The other night he was especially wild so Jeremy grabbed the camera and took a few short videos of it. The best part is that Alexis recognized the craziness and went and put on what she called her "protecting gear". You'll notice a beanie and a helmet, socks on her hands, a backpack on her chest, and snow boots. Unfortunately, even with all her protective gear, she still doesn't stand a chance against Tyler.

I know that while watching that you were primarily concerned with the safety of our furniture, our TV, all our nice things. But don't worry, we're having a boxing ring installed next week.

a follow-up

2010-04-27T09:17:00.003-06:00

**EDITED**

I had to come on here and tell you that my house is much improved from those last pictures I showed you. There's still a lot of work to be done, but we're moving along!

Also, remember how one time I mentioned that Alexis had a field trip and she didn't want me to go? I ended up getting asked to go, and the field trip was yesterday. She was disappointed at first and told me that I wasn't going to sit by her on the bus, but I think in the end she had fun with me there and only had to sit by me on the bus on the way home. When I asked her if she had fun even with me there she said "yes, but I kind of wish you hadn't come because then I would have been in a different group". Just one more reason why my motto as a mother is becoming: You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself. Or at least that's my motto at mealtimes, and the reason Jeremy sees peas (despite his complaints) included in the dinner at least once a month.

On a more serious note, I read a short news article online from our local news station this morning and it has me baffled. Recently a death warrant has been signed for a man in Utah who killed an attorney while trying to escape from a courthouse in 1981. This particular article announced that they are making commemorative coins for those involved in the execution in June. Commemorative coins for an execution? This is a mentality I don't understand. I can't bring myself to expound on this anymore than that, but I hope I'm not the only one that finds this is a little unnecessary. **Here's a correction to that last article. It makes a lot more sense now!**

On a lighter note and in conclusion because this is all my brain can handle today, this morning Tyler asked me how many years until the baby comes out. Some days it really feels like it takes years, but then I look at my gigantic list of things to do before he comes and I can only hope that it will take years.

it's getting messy over here

2010-04-20T16:48:00.004-06:00

I only show you these pictures to help you feel better about yourselves today. I took them for my own sake, lest in a few months my sleep deprivation caused by a newborn makes me wish for a return to the days of pregnancy, I can look at these photos and remember.

Remember that in my pregnant state I do the very minimum to get by.

Remember that in my pregnant state I haven't cleaned up, or made the kids clean up, the toy room for weeks. I wish that were an exaggeration, but it's not.

Some of you have nice basements or hidden away spaces for your kids to play so you don't see the mess daily. I do not have that. I have a room directly across the hall from my room, and right next door to my kids room, that is viewed often. I see it when I wake up in the morning. I see it after breakfast when I go back upstairs to get ready. I see at night when I put my kids to bed. And I see it as though it's burned into my eyelids when I go to sleep.

Ready for it? Here is what our toy room/everything else room currently looks like:

And don't forget the closet:

It's pathetic really, and at this point I think I've given up on organizing those toys.

In order for our house to be baby ready we have to do some major purging. And I'm just waiting for a time when I can go through all those toys and get rid of half of them without the kids around.

Have I mentioned Alexis is a pack rat? So for her, parting with things (this includes garbage) is akin to a normal person parting with a necessary limb. It is traumatic to say the least.

I, however, have never considered myself a pack rat and try to not keep unnecessary things around. So I realized that I needed to go through all the old girl clothes I've been saving and get rid of most of them. I did that last week and now I understand Alexis a little more! It was kind of hard and a little emotional. And really ridiculous how many clothes I'd been hanging onto. Seriously, can one little girl really wear that many clothes??

But as I went through them those clothes brought back a lot of memories. It's funny how you can associate such a material thing with moments that matter. So I kept all the stuff that really held sentimental value or that I really loved, but the rest of it I'm passing on. I kept thinking that most of the memories I have from those clothes are associated with photos I've seen over and over, but I just looked through old pictures and most of the clothes aren't in them. So I guess they are actual memories. But here's a few photos I do have:

Purple velour pants, ridiculous purple shoes, flower onesie. This was a favorite outfit.

First time swimming
First time she attempted to take off her clothes (while she was supposed to be napping!)

Though I don't really care for Winnie the Pooh, she had a set of three different onesies that she wore a lot, and they were some of the hardest to part with. (p.s. what's up with her hair?)
I just really like this picture! And she wore that sweatshirt a lot!

And this dress was a favorite! I can still picture her crawling around church in it.

Loved this coat! I'm keeping it.

Her first Easter dress. This has been passed on to my niece that will be born in August.

That's enough of that. To sum up:

1. My house is a gigantic mess!
2. Jeremy and I are in the process of organizing and de-junking our entire house so the baby doesn't have to sleep outside.
3. This all needs to be done by June 2nd at the very latest (my induction date!!!!)
4. Alexis has had way too many clothes in her short life span of 5 1/2 years.
5. I am apparently having a hard time accepting the fact that my oldest is growing up.

And along the lines of #5, would it be weird to keep a pair of her first set of underwear in the memory box that I have for her?

6. Sometimes I ask really weird questions.

thinking of a title will cause Alexis to be late for school...

2010-04-12T11:33:00.005-06:00

Should I start every post these days by mentioning how tired I am? How long would that take before it got old? Oh, it already is old? Never mind then, I'm not tired. I'm not exhausted. I'm not pooped. (That's a fancy word for tired). (A little Fancy Nancy humor for you).

I am quite pleased that it's the middle of April. Technically I have 2 months left of this pregnancy business, but I'm counting on less because I like to do stupid things like get my hopes up. But this morning I stepped on the scale and boy howdy was that a mistake! I hadn't prepped myself or anything. I just did it quickly before jumping in the shower, and then I spent the whole time in the shower worrying that my weight will cause it to collapse and crash through the floor to the kitchen below. That would be embarrassing! We'll just say I'm not one of those people who gains the safe and suggested amount of weight during pregnancy. I gain way more than that. So no wonder I'm (not) tired.

And now I challenge you to use the phrase "boy howdy" in a sentence today. It's kind of fun.

Last week I got it in my head that I need to learn how to cut boy's hair. I currently have 1 3/4 boys so I should really be responsible and frugal and learn to do it myself. I will never attempt this on Alexis, Jeremy or myself, I know my limits, but who cares if Tyler's hair looks stupid right? Obviously not us. Instead of asking the plethora of people who actually know how to do this, I turned to the Internet, turned on a movie for Tyler, then turned on the electric clippers. The result isn't terrible, especially if you don't look closely, but it's definitely done by a beginner. Fortunately his hair grows fast and we can try again in a few months. I should show you a picture, but I don't have one and I'm not about to chase him down to get one. I'm (not) too tired for that.

Here's a few pictures I do have. First, this is what Alexis is wearing today. Just wanted to document that the weird outfits continue.
Pants under a skirt is her new favorite look. And that is the tie to her bathrobe worn around her waist. When we went out this morning she said to me "Thanks for letting me wear my bathrobe tie today to school". She sounded genuinely surprised that I let her. When honestly, to me it got lost with the rest of the outfit so I didn't even think to tell her no. I'm starting to think that from here on out when I buy her new clothes I should only buy them in one or two colors and definitely nothing with prints. That way she's guaranteed to match.

However, I really do love her creativity. Which is what the next picture shows.
I took this picture because I thought that whatever she had made here was so darn creative. I mean, the helmet for the barbie is made out of half an Easter egg strapped to her head by a rubber band. And the pens were handles or paddles or something. Unfortunately I can't remember now what exactly it was supposed to be, but it sure was smart!

And now, I need help. My couches have a bunch of dumb little stains and watermarks on them. They are microfiber. Anyone know how to clean them up to look nice??

Now back to your Monday's everyone. Boy Howdy is mine busy!

The Trip Recap

2010-04-05T17:30:00.007-06:00

Please pardon my long absence, I've been busy trying to keep everyone in this house from dying due to some illness or another. Perhaps that's a bit dramatic, but it sure felt like I was dying last night when I couldn't stop coughing and I had an extremely bad case of heartburn. I've had a cough for about a week, but it was really bad over the weekend. And as I told Jeremy, a bad cough is a mean trick to play on a pregnant woman who already has very limited bladder control.

And that's all I'll say about that.

This weekend was also The Trip. The one that I was so nervous about because we'd be camping, and there were no bathrooms, and we were in the middle of nowhere. That's everything I knew before. Then come the week of we discovered the weather forecast. And then I got sick. And then my mother in law got pink eye, and my father in law was still not over some bad case of the flu that he's had for several weeks. We were going to make an awesome group--yet we were determined to go!

But we woke up to go in the morning to several inches of snow on the ground with it still falling. And you know how I feel about snow. It is my opinion that a person should not plan on riding the Rhino when it looks like this:
That's the kind of weather we were driving through.

By the time we got to our destination it was cold but sunny with no snow, so we hosed off the frozen Rhino and went on our way.

And I have to say that the trip was actually a lot of fun! It had it's downs, like the fact that it was freezing most of the time and the wind that blew in the night making it hard to sleep. In fact the second night it was so windy that my brother in law's tent got flipped over, with him still inside it!

But the ups far outweighed them. Jeremy (and his parents) took such good care of me that I didn't have to do much. Also he borrowed a three inch foam mat that he put on top of the air mattress for me to sleep on and I'm pretty sure I slept better on that than I do at home. It was heaven! It really helped to insulate our sleeping bags from the cold so we stayed toasty warm all night.

There was the matter of the hike we went on that was supposed to be less than two miles round trip and ended up being at least twice that. Which normally wouldn't scare me but I'm carting around an extra 35 lbs and my core muscles are a little stretched out at the moment, so it probably goes without saying that that hike left me VERY tired. But it built character (I think)!

Within minutes of getting in the Rhino Jeremy had us sunk in a wash. But I've learned that it's not really fun unless someone has to be towed out of somewhere.

Jeremy and his dad on what we dubbed "the slant rock". It really is amazing the shapes you find some of these rocks in.

Lake Powell. Simply beautiful. It gave us all an itch to go back there and soon! (And with a boat.)

Jeremy, me, Cindy and Trent with Hole in the Rock and Lake Powell behind us. It was really cool to learn about the history behind this. Basically a group of Mormon Pioneers in 1880 lowered 26 wagons and 250 people, plus animals, down this really steep crack in the rocks to ferry across what was then a river. It is unimaginable how they did it, but somehow they did and everyone and everything survived.

This is what they called "Dance Hall Rock". It's shaped like and has the acoustics of an amphitheater and the pioneers would square dance here while they were camped waiting for the road to be ready.

And then we came home to more snow on Easter morning. But we also came home to two little cuties who were very excited to see us and get a visit from the Easter Bunny. Alexis has been talking about this Barbie bathtub for months, ever since she gave one to a friend for her birthday. And miraculously that's what the bunny brought. Jeremy finds it a little ridiculous that our daughter owns a toilet for her Barbies, but that's okay. I learned this weekend that toilets are essential, even for Barbies.

And Ty-guy of course got dinosaurs. He loves dinosaurs and spends half his day pretending that he is one. And I'm pretty certain that sometimes he's so into being a dinosaur that he thinks he really is one. Like the other day when Jeremy was washing Tyler's face and he said to him "Why are you wiping a T-Rex's face??"

And have I mentioned that he's a daddy's boy? Cause he is. Big time. And I love it!

Now back to Spring Break for us!

Alexis' no good, very bad day

2010-03-26T12:43:00.003-06:00

Alexis is having a bad day, and I feel really sorry for her.

Yesterday she was perfectly fine, but this morning she woke up and her eyes were crusted shut from gunk pouring out of them all night. And she has puffy eyes and a runny nose. The doctors office called in some antibiotic eye drops for her, and even though her eyes aren't quite so gunky anymore, I'm afraid she is still contagious.

I told her this morning that she wouldn't get to go to school, and though she was sad she was okay with it. But I just barely called the school to excuse her and I guess that's when she remembered what today was. Today is the last day for the student teacher that's been in her class. They were going to have a party and Alexis really wanted to tell her goodbye. She cried and cried and cried, and I even cried for her! Please remember I'm hormonal, but she just sat there sobbing in my lap and there was nothing I could do to really make it better. I know she'll probably forget all about it in a few days, but that doesn't make the moment of sadness she feels any less painful for her or me.

And tonight she was supposed to go eat at Carl's Jr. (with a play place!) with her dad and brother and some friends, but she probably won't be doing that either. Poor girl.

And to top it all off she has to have eye drops in her eyes!

The bright side is that I let her have a doughnut for lunch. She needed it.

And I had a cinnamon roll for lunch. It's snowing--I needed it.

facts

2010-03-24T20:15:00.003-06:00

Oh am I tired.

That is life these days. Tired, tired, and more tired.

With some sewing thrown in. And a few other projects.

And the ever present, ever loud, ever messy children.

Here's a question: Have my kids always been this messy, or does it just seem worse because it's so painful to bend over and help them clean up?

Here's some interesting facts about Alexis:
-She has bitten her lip three times today. Three! And every time she screams like the world is ending.
-She called Tyler "Chubby Buns" the other day and I'm pretty sure it's the best nickname I've heard yet.
-Today she told me that her class needs 5 mom volunteers for a field trip but that I am forbidden to go because she wants it to be special.
-Also today she was "hula" dancing and it was one of the cutest things I've seen her do. She tied two capes around her waist to act as her hula skirt, and a thin necktie around her chest area to support her you-know-what's. And if it weren't so revealing I'd show you all a picture.

Here's some interesting facts about Tyler:
-He does indeed have "Chubby Buns", but they are getting decidedly less chubby as he gets taller and less baby like.
-He is also very tired today, which means he likes to snuggle with me more and listen to me less.
-He is one of the most loyal brothers I have ever seen and also one of the scariest T-Rex's I have ever seen.
-He likes to help me with whatever I'm doing--whether it's sewing, cooking or cleaning.
-While I'm watching Jeopardy he asks every 5 minutes if it's over and who won. When it is over he has to know who won and is often times upset because it wasn't the person he wanted to win. (He never wants the girls to win--only the boys.)

Here's some interesting facts about me:
-I have zero interest in going on a field trip with a bunch of kindergartners. Too stressful for me, I'd spend every other second counting kids to make sure I have them all.
-I've done pretty well at keeping up with my dishes and keeping my kitchen clean for about a week!
-I get to see some of my good friends from college this next week and I can't wait!
-Next week I'm going on a 4 wheeling trip with Jeremy and his parents and brother. There will be no bathrooms (maybe a port-o-potty if I'm lucky) and I'll be sleeping in a tent. I will also be 30 weeks pregnant. I'm a little nervous (or a lot depending on the time of day and my hormones!)
-I have begun reading "Anna Karenina" and hope to actually make it all the way through.

Here's some interesting facts about Jeremy:
-He had the Rhino painted black because someone offered to do it for free. It looks cool.
-He's getting stuck with the kids a lot over the next five days but he hasn't complained. (Maybe I should give it a few days...)
-He graciously offered to build some sort of portable bathroom enclosure for our trip.
-Those are all the facts I have about him because he doesn't talk much and I don't see him much more than that.

And now I have filled my blogging quota for the week--too bad it wasn't more interesting. And just because everything is less lame when a picture is involved, here's one of Tyler helping me make pizza dough.

a follow-up

2010-03-17T13:03:00.003-06:00

Yesterday morning Alexis was very distraught to discover that, yet again, Lucky and Larry (the leprechauns) had not come to get the letters she left for them. Evidently she had been leaving them out for three nights in a row and I was entirely unaware (see the post below about the pregnancy stupids). Fortunately, as I sat there searching my brain for any excuse as to why they hadn't come (again, the pregnancy stupids), she chimed in with, "Oh! They probably couldn't see the notes, they were too high for them". Then she promptly placed them on the floor, where they remained through the rest of the day.

Naturally guilt set in. As my mom put it, Alexis forced my hand. A leprechaun would be coming that night.

But first this leprechaun had to spend an hour on the phone calling every store in the area trying to track down those gold chocolate coins. Eventually they were found and all that was left was the note. Jeremy took pity on me and whipped up something way better than I would have. Of course he stole a lot of it from the Internet, since we have no idea what a leprechaun would write in a note, but we made the last two lines our own!

Then we hid the gold around the living room, rolled up the note like a scroll and played a few tricks. Green water in the toilet bowl (which I stole from Rachel, thanks! and which totally freaked Tyler out), a couch tipped on it's side, the family picture on the wall hung upside down, Alexis' backpack hanging from the light fixture, and some shoes found in the toy box.

I have to admit--it was fun! The kids reaction was totally worth it this morning and it's nice to do something out of the ordinary every once in awhile. It's just the planning ahead that really kills me.

The best part has been that all morning whenever they notice something slightly off around the house (and trust me, there's a lot of things) they blame it on Lucky. Lucky moved the cereal boxes into a different order, Lucky put a helmet in the laundry room, Lucky moved a blanket, etc. And for some reason if I were the one to do any of these things it would just be annoying, but because they think a leprechaun is doing it it's really funny and cool. I wish Lucky would have given that some forethought and gone through the humongous pile of papers and artwork in the corner of Alexis' room and thrown some out--because I'm not allowed within 10 feet of it.

anyone seen my brain?

2010-03-15T15:10:00.002-06:00

I just have to take a minute and let everyone know that I have a major case of the pregnancy stupids. Some people sugarcoat it and call it "absentmindedness" or "forgetfulness", but the fact is that I'm really just plain stupid these days.

Today I walked Alexis to school only to return home to realize I had locked myself out of the house. This might not seem so stupid except that I did it just last Friday too. You would think that would have reminded me to take keys with me. I'm too large to jump the fence where we have a hidden key, but fortunately last time I was able to send Alexis over. This time she was already at school and I had to call my mom to come let me in.

Last week I made rolls with dinner and put in 2 tablespoons of salt when the recipe called for 2 teaspoons. As I was pouring it in I thought to myself "boy, this seems like a lot of salt", but I just kept on pouring.

Now I'm not normally a gourmet cook, but I manage to make most of my meals without any large mistakes or burning anything. Yesterday, however, was a whole different story. I decided to make a meal I've made hundreds of times and is quite literally the easiest recipe in the world. You throw about 5 ingredients in a crock-pot and stir. All afternoon we smelled that cooking and looked forward to eating it--especially poor Jeremy who was fasting. When it came time to eat, I took the lid off the crock-pot and the stuff was burned black and bubbling! It seriously looked like I was cooking tar in there. Poor Jeremy was so hungry that he ate about half of his piece of chicken before I demanded that he stop.

I'm telling you, it takes a major case of stupids to burn dinner in a crock-pot! The thing is a slow cooker, meaning it should basically be impossible to burn anything in there.

I can think of a million and one more daily examples of my pregnancy stupids, but I'm already feeling bad enough about my current state of mind. If things continue to progress on this downward slope someone will need to send help. For the safety of my children, the health of my husband, and the life of our fish.

Lucky is trouble

2010-03-12T19:34:00.002-07:00

For whatever reason, I'm not a big holiday person. Christmas is of course a big deal, and the past few years I've tried to make Valentine's Day fun for the kids because Alexis loves Love, but other than that I do the bare minimum that is required of me to get through the holidays.

I'm a super fun mom.

So, you can imagine my joy when Alexis has been coming home all week talking about "Lucky" who leaves notes for her in her class. You can probably guess, but Lucky is a Leprechaun.

A LEPRECHAUN!

I've been trying to remember everything I ever knew about leprechauns, and this is what I've come up with: I vaguely remember watching a movie when I was younger with leprechauns and banshee's and I'm fairly certain they were all evil and scary. And also, is a leprechaun's job to protect the gold at the end of the rainbow? That's all I know about leprechauns and both of those things I'm obviously a little fuzzy on.

Now thanks to our local public school system I have to try and explain leprechauns and shamrocks to my kids--and set a trap to catch them on St. Patrick's Day.

A TRAP!

How do you set a leprechaun trap anyway? I suppose next I'm going to be required to make sure everyone is wearing green next Wednesday.

I can manage to scrape together Easter baskets, and I let Santa Clause take all the credit for a fun Christmas, I even buy fireworks (sometimes) for the 4th of July, but I cannot celebrate St. Patrick's Day! I just don't have it in me.

I'm thinking it might be time to start homeschooling. The effort required to do that has got to be less than celebrating all these crazy holidays, right? Also, I will get rid of our T.V., we don't get the newspaper, and I'll censor every conversation my kids have with any outside influences, making it impossible for them to find out about things like this.

On second though, maybe I'll just go to the dollar store and buy a green necklace so the poor girl doesn't get pinched to death.

travel log-ish

2010-03-10T11:58:00.005-07:00

It would appear that blogging while pregnant is difficult for me. Actually, it's getting to the point where doing anything while pregnant is difficult--especially bending over. As in, bending over to pick up that toy on the floor. Oh, and that one over there too. And the sock in the corner. And the wrapper under the couch. And to help Tyler put his pants and underwear back on after using the bathroom, etc., etc., etc.

So, we went to Phoenix last week. Jeremy hasn't been back there in 6 years and has really been wanting to go. While there we saw a spring training game (Angels vs. White Sox), got together with a lot of his old high school friends that still live out there, swam, and basically just enjoyed the sunshine. I can definitely see myself becoming a snowbird when I'm old--with or without Jeremy. Though I hope he chooses with.

We were all healthy and the kids loved the plane, despite how late it was. If I could do the trip over the only thing I would change would be to not start out so late, the kids never really caught up on their sleep. They did pretty well but definitely had their grumpy moments--as did I.

Jeremy and I flew separately because we were using flyer miles, it's a long story. But on the way home our flights were on different airlines but left and arrived home at the same time. However, the kids and I managed to miss our flight. Tyler told me he had to go to the bathroom as our flight started to board (which he never says, so I took him seriously!) and I thought we had enough time. We hurried and as we were getting back to the gate I noticed a person boarding but figured we were probably the last ones. I got to the gate and handed the lady my boarding pass and she got really snippy with me. "What's this for? You're not on this flight anymore! We paged you several times." I thought maybe she was annoyed with me but was going to let me on anyway, but nope. She shut the door and left me standing there confused and ready to cry. At this point the kids and I were all REALLY tired and they were pretty bored from waiting in the airport for an hour already. They put us on standby for the next flight, but if we didn't make that one we would have to wait until noon the next day. We had already returned the rental car, we didn't have a hotel room and Jeremy had all our luggage. So I cried, then Alexis cried. Then we prayed. And fortunately we got on the next flight! Tyler slept the whole flight home, Jeremy picked us up and when we got home I ate my weight in Twizzlers--a good comfort food.

The kids on the flight to Phoenix (watching Tarzan)

Hole in the Rock

This picture makes my heart swell with pride.
She wanted to climb that rock--that's my girl!

Tyler's favorite thing in all of Phoenix--a dinosaur to ride on!

This picture shows what every one's favorite part of the trip was--
having Jeremy around!

Angels & White Sox game

I only put this in as evidence that I was there.
Kindly ignore all my extra lbs.

The kids in front of the Mesa Temple

Jeremy's h.s. friends and spouses (and red eyes cause I'm lazy)

Now we're back to our normal routine, with some rainy skies. And Tyler appears to have entered the terrible three's stage. At first I thought maybe he was still tired and trying to catch up on sleep, but unfortunately that's not it. He's just 3. Maybe by the time this next baby is 3 scientists will have discovered the cure for terrible three's. I would gladly donate $$ to that cause.

Fun facts

2010-03-03T11:03:00.002-07:00

Life is just getting peachier and peachier around here. Here's some fun facts of the past little bit.

Fact 1: Jeremy hasn't had much of a voice for the past week and a half.
Fact 2: Jeremy has had flu like symptoms since Monday.
Fact 3: Jeremy has been unable to help with much of anything, including packing his stuff for our trip.
Fact 4: Alexis threw up last night.
Fact 5: Tyler has been crying ALL morning and throwing ridiculous fits.
Fact 6: Tyler does not feel well.
Fact 7: My kids typically go to bed around 8 pm.
Fact 8: We're booked on a flight tonight that leaves at 9:30 pm, and doesn't land until 11:15.
Fact 9: Jeremy is not on the same flight as the kids and I.
Fact 10: If anyone throws up on me while on the plane or in the airport I will be booking myself a separate hotel room for the trip.

checkers with a 3 year old

2010-02-25T13:35:00.004-07:00

Ty-guy's favorite thing to do when Alexis goes to school is to play a game with me. Today when he asked if I'd play a game with him I prepared myself for another round of Candyland--his favorite game. But he surprised me by saying he wanted to play checkers. My mom gave him a "Cars" version of the game for Christmas, but I've never played it with him because he's 3. So when he asked for it I asked him if he even knew how to play. He assured me he did saying that his Aunt Rachel taught him.

I helped him set up the game and let him go first. His first move was to take one of the pieces on the back row and move it to the middle of the board. I'm not sure why I even attempted to bring sense into the game, but I told him that's not how the pieces move and showed him how to make a legitimate move. This went on for about 3 moves before jumping came into play. At that point I realized there was no point and I let him jump my pieces to his heart content--but I made sure to even the playing field. With about half of the pieces gone he lost interest in the game and set about stacking up the pieces that were no longer on the board. I decided to finish the game and play against myself. At first it was a little hard to not be biased towards the pieces I started out with, but eventually I was able to play it fairly even. But I'm sorry to say I lost.

Five minutes after the game was over, Tyler finally looked up and noticed me staring at him. He looked at the board, then back at me and said, "Is the game over?" If he ever asks, I'm telling him I won.

--------

If you want to pre-order the hottest new book out on the market, here's a link. I might be a little biased, because the author is my dad, but I think it's pretty awesome. If you live in, around, or near the Wasatch Mountains, his book would be a great guide to a lot of the flowers you see in the area. He didn't just write and compile it, he also took all the pictures! I will be owning a copy, but I'm lucky enough to hike with him and hear the flower names straight from his mouth. And so far he hasn't gotten annoyed that I can't seem to remember any of them! Maybe I'll study the book so next time we go on a hike I can say, "Hey dad, look at that cluster of Columbines over there!"