naked pizza

Sarah carefully pulls off the cheese and meat from her pizza. Afterward, she picks up the slice and hands it to Tiff and says "It's too naked for me. It's because the cheese is all off."

10 months

Ryan is 10 months old as of last week. Where has the time gone? We took him in to the doctor on Wednesday for his 9-month check-up and he's a healthy 24 pounds and 29.5 inches. We have a referral to see an allergist next week to figure out his food issues. Ryan loves to eat... he's just limited as to what he's allowed at this point. The preliminary blood tests only revealed allergy to egg whites (and negative on the peanuts). His diet consists of cereal (as long as there's no fruit added), rice Chex, Cheerios, homemade bread (no eggs), beans and formula. Pretty boring diet if you ask me! Hopefully we can figure it all out and get him eating more.

Ryan at 10 months is:
Pulling up on everything and cruising along furniture.
Loves to push the little push-toy bus around. He almost gets giddy when he's doing it.
Climbs up and down stairs very well. It's a relief that he's figured out the "down"!
Yells and screams right along with his sisters. I'm trying to break that habit!
Is very snuggly and loves to give kisses. He doesn't bite as much as he used to :)
Has 7 teeth.
Is amazingly content. Even when he's exhausted he's a good baby. I love that!
Still eats anything and everything he can find off the floor. I have to sweep the kitchen floor multiple times a day to keep him from eating something he's not supposed to (aka: something the girls dropped)!
Loves his daddy. Always lights up and crawls over when Steve enters the room.

I love my little guy!

At this same appointment we weighed Sarah and Katie and found out Sarah weighs 2 1/2 pounds more than Katie! We were very amused.

More from Sarah

Sarah just says funny things.

Sarah comes down crying... "Ellie being mean." pause... "Mommy- you have a big nose."

After she wakes up this morning (the last one) she's sitting on the stairs and I say, "you were a tired little girl, weren't you?" "No! Not a little girl!!!" She does not like being called little these days. She's a big girl!

Random Thoughts

Here are just a few things that have been running through my mind lately...

It always amuses me when I have friends complain about going shopping/ running errands with one or two of their kids. Oh... it's just soooo hard. Picture this: it's pouring rain, the wind is gusting up to 30 mph, temp is hovering around 30 degrees and I have 3 places I need to go. I could wait, but the next day it's supposed to be colder and even windier. So of course, I take all 4 kids and we run in and out of the stores. Sometimes we're out for 2-3 hours running errands. Is it always ideal? Ha! Far from it. But mostly they're really good and that makes me happy. Oh- and today, when it would have been ideal to stay inside all day, I have had 6 kids to run around. I guess you never know your limits until they're tested?

Cooking. How can a girl reach the age of 14 and not know how to cook? I hope I don't offend anyone by telling this story, but it's really taught me the importance of letting my girls be in the kitchen with me. Our babysitter is usually solicited over dinner time so we can do a dinner date. In the past I've just let her do mac & cheese or frozen pizza. But my kids had eaten both within the week and I wasn't going to feed them that again. So I put out pancakes and sausage. You know- add water and cook the pancakes. Defrost and heat the pre-cooked sausages. When we got home Steve said, "what's that smell?" Needless to say, she had charred both the pancakes and sausage. I think my girls were less than gracious about it, but it looks like they ate it anyway. And maybe she just never cooked that kind of food before? Or maybe it was my stove? I hope so. But again- I plan on having girls that can cook the basics by the time they're that age.

And finally, what is it about turning 30 that made my metabolism stop? I've picked up exercising again lately (finally am healed well enough to actually get a good workout) But alas, all this exercise is not giving me the desired results!

asleep...asleep...

Tiff was tucking in the girls last night and was singing the Christmas carol "away in a manger" to and got to the part where the song goes "asleeeep, asleeeeep, asleeeeep, asleeeep..." and Sarah interrupted her showing great concern and said "nuh huh! and then proceeded to sing "awaaake, awaaake...."

Sarah the 2 yr old

Sarah at Breakfast: I want pink milk.

Steve: Well, we don't have that right now, but would you like some orange juice?

Sarah who normally gets defensive and demands her original request shrugs and says off-handedly: "whatever..."

Katie and Sarah on the bed arguing over a picture frame...

Tiff: What are you guys doing?

Sarah, who was just yelling, very calmly says: Just fighting

Tiff: Why?

Sarah: Cuz me do.

Steve: Girls, I'm headed outside and if you guys get ready, maybe you can come out and play too.

Sarah: Or maybe not.

Candy Corn

Sarah came up to Tiff and I just now and was holding our wedding photo album. She declared while pointing at Tiff, "Mommy got married!" and Tiff said "She sure did!" and then asked, "Who did I marry?" Sarah said, "Um.... daddy." And then she stared at the picture a second while thinking and then pointed at the awards on my chest, "And daddy have candy corn!"

Halloween pics

Finally, here are some Halloween pictures. Most of these were taken 2 days after Halloween, when the weather actually warmed up so we could get pictures outside. It was much toooooo cold on Halloween to take them!


Ryan didn't seem to mind his costume, but I just could not get him to smile while wearing it!

Here are a couple pictures of Sarah. This upset look is one I see more often now that Sarah has started asserting her independence. It cracks me up. But no fear, that frown didn't last long. Here's the sweet Sarah we know and love.

Fall Photo Shoot

I did these last week for a birthday present for my Mom. It's been forever since I've taken any pictures of all 4 kids together. I did this single-handedly and I think they turned out great. Of course, Steve's photoshop expertise later on helped a little bit :-) I was lucky to have very cooperative kids that day. These were taken the day after the video in the last post.

Leaves

We actually have leaves this year to play in and the girls have really been enjoying themselves. Here's one of our piles.

And Ryan is caged because he keeps eating and gagging on leaves whenever he can get his hands on them.

Sleepy, sleepy

There's something about sleeping children that has such a serene quality. Almost makes me want to just sit and watch them.

Katie and her Cheetah, which is her latest favorite stuffed animal. And amazingly she wears headbands 24/7. I would think that could get uncomfortable to sleep in!
Katie usually falls asleep on our bed, with the light on (she's acquired an interesting fear of the dark) and usually has a book somewhere near her.
On nights when we insisted she fall asleep in her own room, this was common...
But now Ellie has been sleeping on Sarah's floor since we removed the crib from Sarah's room a few days ago and moved her into a toddler bed. It was the only thing that would keep Sarah happy and in bed. What a sweet thing for Ellie to do. We hope to move them all into the same room soon.

And then there's Ryan who may someday get his own room. He insists on being swaddled with a pacifier to go to sleep, but rarely remains in it for long.
At the end of the day, especially a rough one- these sights tug at my heart, put a lump in my throat and remind me that I love my children more than anything in the world. I am a proud mommy of these sweet angels.

Ryan's new tricks

Here are some recent pictures of Ryan.
First of all, Ryan was receiving the royal treatment from the girls. He was much easier to push/pull than the sisters were :)He can now hold his own bottle and feed himself. If it's too full he still drops it, but he's getting better!
And then today he decided to show off his newest skill- standing up in his crib. Looks like it's time to lower the mattress! (notice the monkey in the lower left picture)That reminds me, I don't think I've ever mentioned Ryan's "room" before. Since there are 3 bedrooms upstairs, Ellie and Katie share one room, Sarah has her own, Steve and I have our own room... and Ryan gets our walk-in closet. I'm hoping to move Sarah in with the other girls soon, but first we need to get her to sleep in her toddler bed.And I can also say that Ryan is officially crawling. He crawls when he needs to go slow, then does his breast-stroke army crawl when he wants to get somewhere fast. I love this little guy!

Raspberries

We went over to Pontious Farm with Mom and Dad Friday to do some u-pick raspberries and we all had an awesome time. Hale Bales (according to Ellie) were a big hit. There were also horses, llamas, goats, and the friendliest cats and dogs. We will definitely be going back there again soon! Oh, and the raspberries are tasty, tasty!

Ryan’s first swim

The labor day parade:

Sarah's latest

I have been waiting to post this, in hopes I'd get a cute picture of Sarah up and ready to share, but who knows when I'll get around to that- so here we go.

So, we finally took pacifiers away from Sarah last week. I was so incredibly scared to do this, as she has been especially attached to those "fawas". (She always had a blanket, "baba" and pacifier, "fawa", or as she would say... bafawa). But, as Steve said so well... we never give our kids enough credit. It wasn't horrible with Ellie or Katie, and it wasn't horrible with Sarah. We had two nights and one nap that were rough (cried for about a half hour) but then she was fine. But alas, as with the other two, when the pacifiers went away, so did the afternoon naps. I have always been amazed that there are children out there that continue to nap until they are 3 1/2- 4 years old. All the girls have given them up at 2 1/2. Having Sarah stay up in the afternoon has ended up being a blessing. She and Katie play together so incredibly well when it's just the two of them. They get to play with Ellie in the morning, then it's just those two while Ellie is at school.

As if this hasn't been enough transition, Steve decided we ought to encourage potty training with Sarah. So today I took her shopping for some new underwear. Little Mermaid and 101 Dalmatians is what we ended up with. And then she managed to wet through 6 pair of underwear today. Yeah- it's going great! Silly, silly Sarah. She has tried to reach the "terrible twos" but in the end just makes us laugh. She is truly a sweet, lovable little girl. For example: she and Katie always say, "I miss Ellie" as soon as she's dropped off at school. And she loves to give hugs and kisses. I love my Sarah.

Scooter

So, I thought Ryan would be crawling within a week, but he has found a different way of getting around that seems to get the job done.

I Love to See the Temple

We took a trip down to St. Louis on Saturday to the temple and it was a perfect day. We left at 7am and got down there right at 10. The kids and I played at the playground nearby while Steve went through. I took the opportunity (since we were on such beautiful grounds) to take a couple pictures. Katie suggested we sing the temple song and after I sang a verse, Ellie told me that she felt like a princess, being close to the beautiful building, surrounded by butterflies on the plentiful flowers and singing songs. I thought that was sweet.

After his session Steve took everyone for lunch while I did a session. The weather was great, the temple was great, and the kids were really quite good. We then did a commissary run and got all the wonderful things I can't get here (especially the cheese and bacon). We made one more stop for dinner at Chili's (yikes for 4 kids in a restaurant at bedtime) and then got home right around 9:30. It was an extremely long day, but overall a great time.

Ryan

Here is my darling boy, Ryan. He is just the sweetest little guy.
Here are a few little facts about Ryan right now:
*I love, love, love his giggle. I could sit and listen to that all day long. And I love that I can always get one out of him by tickling him.
*I love his kisses. I just have to ask and he slobber kisses by biting my chin. Those are starting to hurt a little more now that he has two bottom teeth.
*He is full-blown into 12-month sized clothes. Buying boy clothes and dressing him in them is tons more fun than I ever thought it could be.
*He is just about crawling. He does one knee forward then flops forward onto this tummy. He is getting around pretty well with that. I would guess it'll be just days before he finally figures out the real deal.
*He is mostly sitting on his own. He's still rather wabbly and falls over after just a short while.
*He can only roll from his back to his tummy... unless he's swaddled (which he still prefers to go to sleep) and then he can go the other way as well.
*He always wakes up with a smile. I love that smile. Steve always says that I can't be grumpy when Ryan wakes me up, since he's always happy when I wake him up.
*Ryan loves his daddy. They get bonding time in the morning as Steve gets up early with Ryan. I love the way Ryan's face just lights right up whenever he sees Steve. And I know that means a lot to Steve as well.
*At his appointment a week ago he was 20 lbs, 12 oz. I thought that was huge, but apparently he's just 75% for weight. He's of course over 100% for height.
*We're still battling with food sensitivities (not convinced they're full-blown allergies). There are only a few foods that I've found so far that he doesn't react to. Plain cereals are safe as well as sweet potatoes and carrots. Most everything else isn't. I'll have blood work done before his 9 month appointment to check for allergies that way.
*Is finally starting to get on a more predictable schedule and typically only wakes up once at night now. I like that!
*He is my angel baby and I can't imagine my life without him.

1st day of school

Today was the first official day of school for Ellie. And yes, I cried. But it was just as much frustration as it was sadness. To make a very drama-filled morning short, I am not impressed with the communication given by this school district (even though I've heard wonderful things about it and that's why we moved here.) I was dismissed when I voiced my concerns over a desire to change Ellie's class (afternoon to morning). And her bus picks her up 1 whole hour before school starts even though we live just barely over a mile away from the school. Yeah, very frustrated.
So, here is Ellie on her first (and very possibly last) ride on the bus to school-I will most likely just drop her off myself in the future. She will probably ride it home, even though that's about a 35-minute ride. I guess the lines to pick up kids after school are insane.
Yesterday we went to the school and met her teacher and dropped off school supplies. She seems like a great teacher. Ellie was very excited.
She even has her very own locker.
She told me that she can't wait to go back. I think that means it was a great day.

Mini Me

Steve has been having fun doing some comparing lately. Too bad our kids don't look anything like us :-D

First of all, here are Steve and Ryan at about 6 months old.

Then there's Tiff and Sarah at about 3 months old

And finally Tiff and Sarah at about 18 months.

Great Day!

I want to tell about our trip to Indi, but that will have to wait until later.

Today was such a great day. Because I have to prepare my lesson still, I'll just give the highlights.
9:30 we went shopping for a birthday present for a 3-year old's birthday. It was very fun shopping for a boy. We bought nothing pink :) A ball, a bulldozer and a coloring book. Can't beat that!
11:00 we arrived at church to give blood in the bloodmobile. It's been 6 years since I last donated! Wow. I guess it didn't realize it had been that long. But yay for being able to do it again. And it took me only 6 1/2 minutes. Bam! hehe My brothers and I always used to race to see who could donate the fastest. Silly, I know.
12:45 I bought a brand new mountain bike. Hooray! We have been talking about buying me a bike ever since we got married. And today it actually happened. I am so incredibly excited about this bike and the prospect of going on family bike rides now.
1:00 we went around the corner to the water park for a birthday party. There was pizza, soda, birthday cake and a WHOLE lot of wind to make it difficult to do it all! But we had a great time and then went into the water park for 3+ fabulous hours of swimming. We had no idea this place was even there. There's a lazy river, wave-ish pool (don't actually turn on waves) kiddy pool and a couple slides. This was Ryan's first experience with a pool and he had a great time. I obviously can't take the kids to the pool by myself so it was wonderful having Steve and friends there to help out.
5:00 we arrived home to baths, banana pancakes (Ellie has been begging me for those for about 2 months now) and bed. There were 4 extremely exhausted children that didn't fight too hard when we tucked them in. I hope they all sleep very well.
8:00 I finished off the M&M cookies I promised my class for tomorrow and I'm ready to start my lesson. Steve is outside staining the bookshelf he built (it's beautiful) I'm going to pop up and devour some popcorn (because I can) and the day is ending quite well.

Just like...

Katie has been finding words within words lately. She's been noticing that it's an apple... like in apple juice. Or orange, like in orange juice. But today it was a booger, like in han-gabooger (hamburger). Hmmm...

Strawberries

I am sitting here looking up new recipes (a new hobby of mine) while babies are sleeping and girls are amused in front of "Little Foot." But more importantly, I am thoroughly enjoying my bowl of strawberries and bananas. This is probably one of my most favorite snacks and I am so happy that I get to eat it again! And then that peach/strawberry pie I made up last night out of desperation to not lose either fruit to spoiling was fabulous!!! Going without certainly gives you a great appreciation for things when you get them. :-D

Awww...

During lunch today Ellie was telling us about all the things she wants to be when she grows up. She wants to be a doctor, a nurse, a ballerina, and many other things. Katie got involved, too. But she said, "I want to be just like you, Mommy, when I grow up." Awww....

Seriously?

Okay, so that last post was so happy and upbeat. This one won't start out that way. And it's kinda long. Sorry.

Yesterday was another one of those days where I really questioned why I am allowed to be a mother.

*The kids fought with each other all day. No distraction worked. Separation just made them mad at me. I was frustrated all day!

*I put Ryan and Sarah down for naps, the girls in front of a movie, and decided it was the perfect time to take a shower (I had mowed the lawn earlier). Well, I get out of the shower and hear a terrible story from Ellie. Steve got even better details later as I will explain: Katie apparently didn't hear me tell her I was going up to shower. So, she went looking for me and couldn't find me. She proceeded to go OUTSIDE looking for me. I guess she was crying like crazy and our neighbor across the street noticed her and came to the rescue. She asked Katie if I was home. Katie says "no!" So she came and knocked on the door, which Ellie answered. And Ellie told her I wasn't home!! So now the neighbor is quite concerned, obviously. She told Ellie to search the house for me, which she did and heard the shower going, which made her feel a little better. Well, later she came over with her husband and confronted Steve about it. Not me- Steve. Sheesh. I already felt bad about it and now my neighbors (who are kind of nosy and already think I'm a bad mother because they saw me getting frustrated with the girls one day after a HORRIBLE shopping trip.) think I'm irresponsible. How many times have I told the girls to never go outside without me? Oh, about a zillion. Anyway... lovely.

*I experimented this past weekend with soy formula to see how Ryan would do. I was pumping a little bit to keep up just in case. Well, he was doing so much better and I wondered if maybe it was teeth and it was just coincidence. So yesterday I tried nursing him and he refused. Maybe because my milk wasn't coming in and maybe he likes the bottle better? Either way I felt like a miserable failure.

So after we got everyone to bed I went shopping... hehe. I strolled around Kohl's for about an hour and found some great deals for me as well as some nice clearance items for Ryan. He's such a big boy that he's wearing 12 month clothes and I certainly never thought he'd wear that at 6 months old, so I get to buy new clothes for him. I'm suffering :-D Then I did my grocery shopping at a nice, leisurely pace. Steve got worried when I didn't come home until almost 10pm. But it was nice to get out and escape the house and the stress that had built up all day.

AND... there's great news!!!
Ryan is doing awesome. He slept 6 hours straight last night, his skin has almost completely cleared up and I can eat whatever I want now!!! I am savoring all the flavors of life that I've missed out on the last 6 months. Wonderful things like chocolate and strawberries... aaaahhhhh.... Oh- and I tried on my "skinny" pants this morning and they fit! So I guess things aren't so bad after all.

Much-needed break

I really should be going to bed, seeing as Steve is at a camp-out and I will be up with the kids in the morning and most likely all night with Ryan. He still isn't sleeping more than 2 hours in a row. I hope it's just those stinkin' teeth. I'm testing out formula tonight, too. We shall see...

Anyway... on to my post.

On Tuesday Mom and Dad watched ALL 4 of my kids (they deserve a medal) while Steve and I took the entire day to escape. We left at 5:30 AM and headed down to St. Louis. I was able to sleep most of the way there and enjoyed the silence of the car. We arrived early for the 9am session at the temple. Oh- what a wonderful place to be. I love going through with Steve. We go once a month, which I LOVE, but it's best when we can be there at the same time. It was a great place to clear my head and get the spiritual rejuvenation I was in terrible need of. That is a beautiful temple!

Our next stop was lunch. Since I'm on such a ridiculous diet, my choices are fairly limited. But Steve spoiled me by going to Cheesecake Factory where I got their oh-so-yummy turkey club sandwich. Mmmmm... It's pricey, but I really like their food. We ate, we talked, we had a good time and we left. No screaming children involved!

Next was over to Scott Air Force Base. It's the closest military base to where we live (almost 3 hours away). Steve needed to get an updated DA (department of the Army) photo for his Major's board since he has received an award since the last picture. It took us a very long time to find the right place for this picture. Apparently the Air Force doesn't do things the same as the Army and nobody knew where to send us. Steve made it just in time for his appointment.

We then went to the commissary. That is a place I certainly take for granted when living near an Army post. Man, the prices are so much better! We stocked up on my favorites (only found there) as well as upped our food storage supplies. Again- shopping is so much easier and faster without kids!

And then we went home. It was great just talking to each other and not having to quiet a baby in the back seat. I felt like a million bucks when I got home. We ate dinner as soon as we got in and then I left again with my dad to a reception. By the time we got back the kids were in bed and we played games with my parents until after 10. What an awesome day!!!

Funny Ellie

Here are a couple more funny things Ellie said at dinner tonight:

"Mom, why do you sacrifice for your baby?"

"You know, I've been thinking about this a lot lately..."

"I think I'll be good when I'm 21."

Where does she come up with some of these things, anyway (and how old is she)? :-)

It's that bad

So, this evening Ellie said a couple things that basically summed up how this week went...

During scripture time Steve was talking about how obedient and good Jesus was when he was little.
Ellie: "He must not have had any sisters."

Then in her prayer, "please help mommy to not be so grumpy."

Yeah- not a stellar week for me. Ryan hasn't slept well in over a week (up every 1 1/2 to 3 hours every night), I've not felt well from allergies, the girls haven't gotten along very well and little things have just been tough. Here's hoping for a better week next week. I'm tired of this one.

And then they were gone

Today we found a wonderfully loving home for our two kitties. It's a single lady that has had cats for years and needed some playmates for her current cat. From what she told us, she'll spoil those two rotten, which they will love. No kids to chase them, someone that loves to pet them and feed them yummy food. And no more being called "stinkin' cats" by us :) hehe... I wish we could have made it work with those two. They are the sweetest cats ever and we're going to miss them (Ellie cried when they were taken), but it was too much for us. And I think Ryan is allergic. Hopefully this will help clear up some of his symptoms. Bye-bye Daisy and Camo... :*(

Spies

Oh, the girls come up with some of the funniest things. They crack me up!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there. My wonderful husband, who should have been pampered today instead pampered me. He had the whole day to himself yesterday while I was up at my parent's and went out to eat, saw a movie, and just had a nice, relaxing day. So today he let me sleep when Sarah was up at 5:15, got the girls ready for church, even let me take a nap after church. He's so sweet. He even made most of his Father's Day pie last night (lemon meringue) because I was so exhausted. I sure love him!

This was an extremely busy week with church meetings, swim lessons, nature classes, garage sale, housing youth conference boys (15 plus 2 chaperons) making cookies, pies, and keeping up with 4 little ones. I don't know how people make it when they get so incredibly scheduled. It's exhausting! I'm looking forward to a more relaxing week.

Trust

I guess I was spoiled while living on post at Ft. Riley, but we had gotten into the habit of never locking our car or our house when we were gone. Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing, but I felt that I could trust everyone there to leave my stuff well enough alone. Not here! Last Friday night Steve was at his campout and I was here with the girls. I always lock the house when I'm here alone, but left the van as it was. Next day... our nice GPS was gone. They left the charger and everything, which was odd, but the unit was gone. I am so frustrated. I don't like to suspect my neighbors or every person that walks by now, but I do find myself wondering who will rip me off next? Very lame. Still have to fill out a police report on it, too. If anyone comes across a GPS that shows our family at the start-up screen, let me know ;-) That reminds me... I'd better go lock the van.

Oh- and drivers here are terrible! I guess I never noticed because I moved from here to Utah where they're worse. But Kansas drivers are kind- almost to a fault. You can sit at 4-way stops for 5 minutes while everyone tells each other to go first. Here you have to watch out. Most are aggressive and they don't stop at crosswalks- even when I'm walking with all 4 kids in tow. Never thought I'd miss anything about Kansas besides the people :)

Swim Lessons

This year I decided to enroll Ellie in swim lessons. A lady here in town teaches them out of her personal pool (what a great way to pay for a pool!). It's actually the son that teaches the little kids. It is only 2 weeks- 8 lessons total. I've never put Ellie in anything "extra" before, so it was interesting to see the different kids and Moms that were there. There's the sweet, quiet mom. Then there's the athletic mom with her son in goggles and two little kids in goggles watching from the sidelines. The mom that gets there late every day. And of course the mom that lets her kid do whatever she wants and is walked all over. The first week was quite interesting. Poor Ellie just didn't understand what she was supposed to do. And no matter how much I encouraged her to dunk her head or put her whole face in the water to blow those bubbles, she wouldn't do it. I'm not the kind of mom that has to have her kid be #1 at everything. Every child has their own strengths and moves at different speeds. But I'll admit I was convinced swimming was not for Ellie as the other four kids in her class were doing better. Well, this week I'm feeling better about it. She is still not totally getting it, but she's at least enjoying herself now and enjoys dunking. And the other kids were enrolled last year in the same class and are just barely ahead of her. There is hope :-)

Starved Rock

One of the adventures we undertook while Troy and family were here was a trip up to Utica, IL to visit Starved Rock State Park. I don't think I have ever been there before and it was a beautiful area. Steve had to be down at school, so I took the kids myself. We had quite the group- 2 grandparents, 3 parents, and 9 kids ranging 4 mos (Ryan and Matthew are just 3 weeks apart) to 8 years. We had a great picnic then began our hike. We started with Starved Rock. The story of how the area got its name is quite tragic:

Starved Rock State Park derives its name from a Native American legend of injustice and retribution. In the 1760s, Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa tribe upriver from here, was slain by an Illiniwek while attending a tribal council in southern Illinois. According to the legend, during one of the battles that subsequently occurred to avenge his killing, a band of Illiniwek, under attack by a band of Potawatomi (allies of the Ottawa), sought refuge atop a 125-foot sandstone butte. The Ottawa and Potawatomi surrounded the bluff and held their ground until the hapless Illiniwek died of starvation- giving rise to the name “Starved Rock.”

The kids did awesome. We were out hiking about 2 1/2 hours. Ryan and Matthew were in front carriers, Troy took turns with Sarah, Amelia and Katie in the backpack carrier and the rest hiked the whole way. Katie ended up falling asleep in it and slept through the end of the hike. But the thing that was too funny was my girls. I promise- they play outside all the time and I even let them get dirty if they want to. You'd never know it. Katie and Sarah freaked out with every little bug (or black speck that could be a bug) that they encountered. And we're in Illinois- there are lots of bugs. As we were hiking along Mom and I were trying to encourage Katie to keep going and enjoy herself. Her response? "But it's so dirty!" Then I saw a caterpillar fall out of a tree. It was a cute one, reminiscent of the chubby green caterpillar in "Bugs Life". I had Sarah come take a look. She leaned over, took a nice long look at it... and commenced in one rather quick move of her foot... to squish the poor thing. Ah yes- my nature-loving children.

quick summary

I know it has been forever since I wrote, but I haven't even looked at pictures on the camera and am not quite sure where to start. So I guess I'll say that we had a great vacation with the Tolmans, we're moved into the house, almost all the boxes are unpacked and gone, and it's really starting to feel like home. Ryan is getting bigger by the minute and is almost out of his 3-6 month clothes (he's 4 months old today!) He giggles, grunts, and smiles lots. He is still a terrible sleeper (no more than 4 hours at a time at night) but that is not unusual for my kids, so it's not a huge deal. We get to spend time with my sister, Cynthia and her family and my brother Troy and his family in the next week, which we're really looking forward to. The ward is great and both of us already have callings. Steve is the assistant 11-year old scout guy and I teach that class for Primary. I hear they're a rough group of kids, so we'll see how it goes this Sunday. Any suggestions on what to do with 3 11-year old boys? :) I will try my best and get pics up soon!

Treats

So, Sarah occasionally will use the potty and then of course get a treat afterwards. One time we cheered and clapped and asked if she was going to get a treat for going in the potty. She of course gave a resounding "Yeah!".
Then Katie added... "I get a treat TOO, I watched!"

New Home

Here is a link to a self-made virtual tour our new home in Mahomet, IL. It is a little town outside of Champaign where the U of Illinois is. It is our first purchase so that is pretty exciting. We took some pictures while going through for a final inspection, we'll move in next week: http://tinyurl.com/pwj4fh

Safe

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto. :)

Just wanted to let everyone know we made it safely to Illinois last night. It was a couple stressful days of packing and loading out, but our AWESOME friends helped out with babysitting and food and I can't begin to explain just how grateful I am for that. I am truly going to miss everyone in Kansas. The kids traveled great and we got in at 10 last night. We're all very tired, but glad to be here with Mom and Dad.

Failed

Well, the experiment was a complete failure. That night Ryan refused the bottle so that answered that question. And I found out the offending food: my oh so yummy golden oreos. Yes, that one last treat that I thought I could eat turned against me. But ever since I took those out of my diet he's been awesome. I love my happy baby.

On a sad note, Steve just took Sarah to the ER to have her leg checked out. She looks like she's had a bad reaction to her shots she had over a week ago. Hopefully it's nothing. I'll let ya know.

Experiment

We are conducting an experiment around here. For the next day or so Ryan will be on formula to see if it clears up his allergies/colic. I don't like doing this, but I don't like seeing him in pain, either. His face has been really bad the last few days with bumps and the rash has spread all over his body and he's not been a happy camper. I almost hope it fails so nursing is the only option. Then again it would sure be nice to eat regular food again. He was pretty upset about the bottle at first tonight. We'll see how he does in the middle of the night.

Ryan

It's probably about time we got an updated photo of my handsome little guy where he's actually smiling. This was taken today. I may be a little biased, but I think he's just so cute!

House and Orders

So, we've been back from Illinois for over a week now and I haven't said anything about how the trip went. So I'll give a very fast recap. I had spoken with Elizabeth Tandy and Dad talked with a teacher down in Champaign and it was decided that the school system in Mahomet was significanly better than in Champaign. As this will be the first year Ellie goes to school, this was a huge deal for me. That's how we decided to only look in Mahomet.

We drove to Mom and Dad's on Monday and were down in Mahomet Monday morning bright and early to start looking at houses. I had been doing some serious research online and had found about 10 houses to look at that I thought we would like. We started at 9:30 and went until I believe about 6:30 that evening. We found one house we LOVED. It was perfectly arranged, had 5 bedrooms, the colors were great, the kitchen was awesome, the price just right. BUT... it was right on the highway and oh so loud. I thought I could deal with that until we went back the next day and stood in the back yard for a few minutes and yelled at each other to have a conversation. Yeah, not going to work. What a huge bummer! We looked at a couple other houses, but nothing that we thought was worth the money. We looked into rentals, but there was just nothing there in Mahomet. Thursday was our last day to look, so I found another list of about 5 homes and off we went again. This time we found a home that we thought would work for us. Certainly not our dream home, but this needs to be something we can enjoy for 2 years and then move on. And this house will do it. It's 4-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath. There is tons of living space and the bedrooms are sufficiently sized. We'll probably stick all the girls in one room and Ryan in another. We'll need the 4th bedroom for storage, as there isn't a whole lot there. We put in an offer and then a counter-offer and finally the deal was set. We close on May 18th and will hopefully move in that week. (Carrie and Lance are arriving the 22nd, so we're getting kicked out anyway... hehe) I will get pictures posted as soon as we can get some of our own. It's just nice to have a place to live!

Then we've been fighting the good fight to get these orders in order to actually move to Illinois. Steve has gotten the run-around for the past month. He would be told they would fast-track his paperwork then call back a couple days later and they not only hadn't done anything, but couldn't remember who he was. Yeah... frustrating. But-he finally got his RFO (request for orders) today. He just went in to work to get the actual orders and then to arrange for transportation to come and get our household goods. We had hoped to be out by Monday, but it looks like it will probably be the 30th. Things are finally moving along! Whew!

There's more going on, but I'll have to talk about that on another post. My children are tired of me sitting in front of the computer. :-D

Manna

Numbers 11: 6- But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

I am starting to feel this way. Steve made a comment last night that rang so true... I am beginning to understand why the Israelites complained about eating manna for 40 years.

Here is my diet. And this is pretty much what I eat every single day.
Breakfast: bagel and water or milk
lunch: turkey sandwich and wheat thins (sometimes a banana, but I'm not sure if it's really allowed yet)
dinner: salad with cheese on top (my family gets real meals) most croutons have onion or garlic

here's my latest list of what's not allowed. And it grows almost daily...
oranges, to include orange juice. This also means any kind of citrus fruits
strawberries (which includes jellies and yogurts)
chocolate and caramel
onion
garlic
nuts, to include cashews, almonds, walnuts and peanut butter
corn, to include popcorn and any cereals or chips made with corn
pretzels, apparently- he has a terrible reaction today or else the graham crackers
tomatoes in all their varieties
parmesan cheese
beans, broccoli, cucumbers
eggs

yeah- not a whole lot left to eat. Pretty much everything I cook has either onion or garlic in it. I am starting to lost my patience for this diet. I want to nurse Ryan- it's a wonderful thing to do and very beneficial, but there are days when I wonder if it's worth it. I sometimes feel like I'm not healthy because there is no variety in my diet!

I just hope this isn't a sign for how he'll be when he gets older. And I really hope he grows out of this soon!! Yes, I am feeling sorry for myself :)

Here comes the Bride

The last Junie B. Jones book I read to the girls had to do with a wedding. At the end of the book it mentioned that the dad was singing the bride's song. So I just had to teach this to Ellie and Katie...

Here comes the bride,
All dressed in white.
Where is the groom?
He's in the dressing room.
Why is he there?
He lost his underwear.

They have been singing that song nonstop the last couple days and just crack up at the end of it every single time. Even Sarah cracks up- though I don't thinks he knows why :) Steve questioned why I would teach them such a silly song, but really-it's humor they can understand. And I like to hear them doing something together and laughing together. It makes me a happy mom.

Happy Easter

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Day!

I just had to show off my handiwork again. I sewed the dresses and Ryan's tie :-) I'm all about coordination, after all!

Oh My!

Every night, for the past week or so, Ellie has said the same thing in her prayers. It has me a tad bit concerned...

"Please bless Mommy to have twin boys and then take a break."

Bugs

The girls had a great time dressing up today and flying around the house. Ryan was supposed to be a caterpillar in a cocoon, but Steve thought he looked like he was flying in the sky, so he added his own interpretation (as you can see). Just a bunch of silliness, really.

Antics

I keep wanting to take more pictures, but it just doesn't seem to happen. I have a few fun ideas that I hope to get done soon. But in the meantime... Here are a few pictures of what my silly kids have been doing lately.

Geoff and Emily just mailed this dress back to me (I think it's a 9 month outfit) and the girls got hold of it. Sarah loves to dress up and was more than willing to go along with Ellie's scheme.

Speaking of schemes, poor Camo was rooked into this one. They tried to get Daisy as well, but she got away.

Ellie wanted me to take her picture. Not only is she acting like a little mother, but the crazy hair kind of looks like I feel most days, too :) She is very good about getting Ryan out of bed and bringing him downstairs for me when I ask her to. (Steve calls those nightgowns "man dresses")

Ryan has been very social and giving me HUGE smiles lately. For some reason the pictures I take don't do it complete justice, but he's just so cute! And check out those chins!

And I thought this was really sweet. The girls were watching a movie and Steve put Ryan down next to Katie. She is extremely gentle with him and he is always smiling at her.

Diet +

To start off, I will say that Ryan is a very sweet little baby. Very even-tempered and now that he's smiling and talking more it's so fun to be around him. BUT... that's when I'm careful about my diet. I was looking at those pictures that I had posted last time and noticed how splotchy Ryan's face was in a couple of them. That is because not only does he have food sensitivities, but it makes his face/chest break out in that horrible rash. When I eat bad, he has horrible colic and we are all miserable. When I avoid those foods, it's heavenly with him. But get this list of foods I can't eat (these are the ones I know for sure): chocolate, strawberries, tomatoes, garlic, onion and any kind of nuts. That seriously complicates matters, as almost every dish I cook has onion and garlic in them! I've been eating a lot of salads lately. And golden oreos (my non-chocolate fix)... which is why I'm probably not losing any of the baby weight? Yeah, I need to not buy those any more.

We went down to the Oklahoma Temple last week, which was really fun. Winter Quarters was closed for cleaning, so we drove the extra distance (just over 4 hours). We stayed the night Thursday then went to the temple Friday and switched with 2 other couples for babysitting. At one point we had 10 kids that we were watching. Pretty crazy! It's always nice to be able to be in the temple, though. It's nice that we're able to get there once a month, even with the long distances we have to drive.

I had a change in callings at church again. I was released as the Primary pianist (again- extra bummed about it) and called as a Gospel Doctrine teacher (2 teachers rotate weeks). I enjoy teaching, so I was excited about this calling. Funny thing is, though- I might only end up teaching 2 lessons total before we move, as we have General Conference and then Stake Conference in April. I am really anxious about our move and excited for our next stage in life.

Smile

Today I finally caught it- the smile. Ryan has been smiling at Steve for almost 2 weeks now (he's smiling at Steve in this picture). Today was the first time he actually smiled at me other than little half-smiles. But I won't hold it against him :-)

Here are a couple pictures from Ryan's blessing day, too.



And yesterday Ryan got his first haircut. Yes, you might think that 5 weeks old is a little early to be going for that military cut, but I think the pictures will prove why I agreed to this drastic measure.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B: