Chaotic Harmony

5 Little Monkeys

2011-11-02T10:28:00.003-05:00

Jumpin' on the bed.

This was by far one of the best trick-or-treating experience I've had with my kids. The Tolmans joined us, which made it so much more fun. Erin and her mom were nice enough to man the door for us so we could all head out with the kids. The weather was pleasant, so a lot of people were able to sit on their front porches and hand out candy. Our neighborhood is so close together and so incredibly safe that I had no qualms sending them to each and every house. And the joy on Ryan's face with each and every stop he made- truly priceless. He was in trick-or-treat heaven. He would run up to each house, say the words, then run back with a huge grin and show me his spoils. Occasionally he'd even give a little monkey call to accentuate his costume. Oh, the pure and utter joy was just awesome. We went just around our one block and down another street and their bags were full. A great evening with great friends. I have just our pre-Halloween pics so far. Once we get ones with momma and the doctor (myself and Steve) I'll post them.

Where do you keep your band-aids?

2011-10-13T06:18:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago we had Erin's kids for an overnight so she and Tom could go out on a nice date (he had been gone for about 2 1/2 weeks). We had a really fun time with the kids and when Mary got home I guess she was telling her mom just how great our house is. We have a trampoline, two big TVs and a playroom. And the supreme item in my home: I have a band-aid place in my bedroom! Yes folks, you can be jealous because if I need a band-aid in the middle of the night, I don't have to leave the comfort of my room- just go to the little closet in there and pick out a band-aid. Oh, she cracks me up! Seriously, I love the things that get kids excited.

A Date

2011-10-13T06:05:00.002-05:00

So Steve surprised me last weekend with a full day date! We were up and ready to go by 8am Saturday morning when our babysitter arrived. (She had them until 5, then our neighbor, Matt took over until we got home) The plan was to head 2 hours to Six Flags in New Jersey, have about 6 hours of fun, stop for dinner and be home by bedtime. That's how it would work in a perfect world, anyway. Apparently the day before there was a multi tractor-trailer fire on the road we traveled. We were in the fray of completely stopped traffic for 1 1/2 hours. It was lame! So by the time we got through, ate lunch and made it into the park it was after 12.

But, even though the lines were longer, we were still able to ride a bunch of fun roller-coasters and really just enjoyed each others' company for the day. And to make it even better, it was sunny with a slight breeze and around 75 degrees. We haven't done anything together that fun since we were first married. I know it's bad, but I kept thinking... "man, I'm glad the kids aren't here. This would not have been fun with them!"

In my own defense, here's why:
1. So, so many people there. I would have been nervously counting to 5 all day.
2. Oh, the language and smoking and immodesty. Don't need my kids to see that.
3. Also the young kids and their boyfriend/girlfriends. I am afraid for when my girls start thinking about boys!
4. And the roller-coasters. I wouldn't have been able to ride all those fun rides!

In the end, an awesome date. We were home in time to get the kids to bed and the thing they said when we got home: "Can you two go on another date tomorrow?" I think the babysitters did an great job! In the end, an extremely successful day with my sweet hubby!

in heaven

2011-10-09T18:56:00.003-05:00

Katie and I got into a little discussion about Heaven and what it will be like there. We talked about how our family will be able to find each other after we die and other things like that. She was afraid that since I'll probably die first, she won't be able to find me. But after explaining the sealing power, she decided that Jesus will probably help her find me. And all was well. Then she started talking about what we would eat. And I told her that in heaven we probably won't need to eat. Our bodies will be perfect and won't need food to stay that way. She thought about it for a second and said, "I think there will be fish and honeycomb in heaven. But I won't eat the fish. I'll only eat the honeycomb." (can you guess what song we sang in Primary today?) I love having these conversations with my kids. It's very enlightening to find out what they are actually grasping and what I need to do better at explaining!

On a side note... after church I was walking out and saw an older couple that we had known when we were first married and lived in Texas. I called to him and went to say hello. I told him that I knew I recognized him, but couldn't place him for a minute until I saw him with his daughter. And he came back with the same sort of thing. "I thought I recognized you too, but I wasn't sure. Last time I saw you, you were... " (placing palms towards each other closely... try it. hint: this was not a compliment- that was about 30 pounds ago)

Yeah...

his wife interjected with the fact that was "BC... before children".

And on that note, I think I need to go eat a bowl of ice cream. Maybe a really big one with chocolate sauce on top?

Where'd you get that?

2011-09-23T17:01:00.003-05:00

Ryan was just in the kitchen and I noticed he was eating a fruit snack. I know we're out of fruit snacks, so I was thinking that maybe one of his sisters had some hidden somewhere. So I asked him. And he just looked up at me and said, matter-of-fact (with a slight drawl),

"Ah mah boot."

Of course- where else would you get a fruit snack from?

Sarah add-on

2011-09-19T19:57:00.003-05:00

The kids get "marks" for doing good things around the house. For example: if they do something nice for a sibling without being asked. Or for cleaning a room that is not part of their assignment. Or even doing their chores without being big ol' grumps. They get 25 cents for each mark they earn. So if they do a lot of good stuff, they can earn quite a bit of money. We hadn't paid them since we moved from Illinois, so Ellie made $20 this time! We've never had that before.

Anyway... with that money they pay tithing, fast offering if they'd like (help the poor people), and then the rest is theirs to spend as they would like. We usually try to find a store with quarter slot candy machines because it's very rewarding. This time we took them to the commissary and let them pick out candy from the pick-a-mix. Oh, what a joyous occasion for them! Even Ryan had money that he earned and could spend.

Our rules: gum has to be chewed outside. I am tired of finding gum in very difficult places. And we keep their candy up high so that there isn't snitching from each other. Well, I had confiscated the candy Saturday afternoon because of some fighting that was happening (sugar high had ended?) I went outside to do something and when I came in, I heard the kids upstairs talking about their candy and I heard candy wrappers opening up. I warned them, "you know that no candy is allowed upstairs and if I catch you- you will be in trouble!" And in true Sarah fashion, "quick, hide the candy before Mom comes up."

I guess I did say if I caught them...

Sarah funnies

2011-09-07T19:24:00.002-05:00

Erin and I were out running errands this morning. I had bribed them with their own bag of candy from Target and they were well on their way to a sugar high and soon a sugar crash. We were almost home when that crash began. Sarah and Ryan were fighting in the back seat and Ryan unbuckled his naughty self. I told him that he had better get his buckle back on. I warned him that if he unbuckled I would take his candy away.

Sarah's response: "Quick Ryan, eat your candy as fast as you can!"

hmmm... not quite the reaction I was looking for. Needless to say, the candy was consumed and the buckle was not rebuckled.

Sometimes it's tough

2011-09-04T19:54:00.002-05:00

There are all sorts of thoughts that have been rambling through my brain lately and I think I may just go ahead and put them down. This will be self-indulgent, so if you're not interested, don't read on.

Weight. Okay- so yes, I've had 5 kids. And four of those were c-section. But the last one was 15 months ago. And I can't lose that weight. In order to feel like myself again, I need to lose at least 20 pounds. In Illinois I was working out twice a day and still not losing weight. I haven't been as devoted here, so I've gained a few more pounds. I've tried limiting calories, but those stinkin' migraines keep coming because of my lame hypoglycemia. So then I have to eat more to try to keep them at bay. So I'm having a horrible body image at the moment. And while I'm not pregnant (shocker, I know) I feel like everyone is looking at my belly and always wondering if that bump is a baby or just chub (as most people know we want another baby eventually...)

Migraines. I don't know what the deal is, but I've had at least 2 a week since we moved here. I've tried acupuncture, heat, light massage, diet, all sorts of things. And nothing works. I'm so tired of those stinkin' headaches that just knock me out for the night (the only cure is lots of sleep, unfortunately).

Tension. Holy moly the tension in my neck is ridiculous. I'm constantly in pain. Constantly. Again, I tried acupuncture, heat and massage. Nothing is working. Even the ibuprofen barely touches it. I've even tried different pillows and stretching to no avail.

Friends. Okay, so here's my pity party. I felt that I had made some really great friends in Illinois. People I LOVED to hang out with. That was the first place I have lived where I actually went out of my way to have people over and throw parties and just hang out. And they were all such awesome people who actually cared about me and my life and my kids. And it felt really good. And I have an awesome friend here, too. Erin is just the best ever. And while I'm overly thankful for her (she even cooked us dinner tonight!) I miss the group of friends I had. I think I was just really blessed to find people with my similar interests and kids the same age. There have been many tears shed over the loss of those gals and their kiddos. I have made friends on our street. And they are really great. There is just not enough in common to want to really spend tons of time with them.

Enough. I have felt rather inadequate here. My house isn't clean enough. (yes, I'm comparing myself to those with only two or three kids) My house isn't cute enough (yes, I have no interior decorating skills whatsoever) My kids aren't enriched enough (take 5 kids by myself where?) I'm not thin enough, I'm not happy enough, I don't have enough energy (I have been more exhausted than I have been in years), I'm not doing a million things that I really wish I could do. It's frustrating.

Reality. Okay, so my husband, who is always completely honest, thinks I'm attractive. That should be enough, right? My kids are happy, well-adjusted kids. My house is a bit messy at times, but never really dirty. I do have one awesome friend here. My kids have made good friends in the neighborhood. I am comfortable in my home.

So how do you give yourself an attitude adjustment? Prayer and fasting. That's a good start. And I suppose just working at it day by day. Because the Lord never gives us more than we can handle. Some days I wonder, but most days I know it's true. I want to be a super-mom and I don't like falling short. Those crazy expectations of mine!!!

So now you've seen a glimpse into the mind of Tiffany. It's not always sunshine and rainbows around here. I'm pretty good at faking it, but I'm tired. I'm so tired.

What have I done?

2011-08-30T12:48:00.005-05:00

The other day I was getting Ryan dressed. I asked what shirt he wanted to wear. He requested his ball shirt (has a basketball on it). I obliged and put it on him. Then he changed his mind and wanted his fish shirt. Sure, we'll change your shirt. And of course his blue shorts (jean shorts are a must these days). Well, then I got Tommy dressed in the flag shirt that Dick and Sybil gave them. Ryan noticed and here is the conversation that ensued:

Ryan: baby wear a fag shuet?
me: yep, tommy is wearing his flag shirt today
Ryan: me a wah a fag shuet
me: but you're already dressed in the shirt you wanted to wear
Ryan (quite indignant): No! Me a wah a fag shuet! Me a match a baby!

Ryan then commenced to put on his flag shirt and then picked out matching socks for him and Tommy. Then all was well in the world... for a little bit.

what have I done?

po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe

2011-08-24T19:26:00.003-05:00

So Sarah's first day of dance was yesterday and they practiced talking into a microphone, put on tutus, made up scripts, learned the parts of a stage (upstage, downstage, etc.) and learned a quick little dance. She loved it.

As we were driving home she told me that a girl there liked tattoos and that's not good. I explained to her that just because Sarah knows they aren't good for our bodies, doesn't mean that other people feel the same way. I realized that I needed to do some explaining when Sarah told me that, "people who have tattoos don't love Jesus." fabulous. But then the real truth came out. She said that she didn't like having to wear tattoos. Now I was truly confused until I realized... she was wearing a tutu... and thought it was a tattoo. Sounds pretty much the same, especially coming from her mouth!

So we had a quick chat about loving Jesus and wearing tattoos and tutus (yes, tutus are most definitely acceptable attire for dance class and you can still love Jesus and have tattoos) and all was made well.

The funny thing about Sarah... if she does or says something wrong, she just smiles, sighs and says, "I was just kidding!" That is her "out" and it makes me laugh every time. So I suppose it is successful :)

School starts

2011-08-24T10:39:00.002-05:00

So far the transition to the school year has been very smooth. Ellie started last Thursday and has a friend from the neighborhood that sits next to her on the bus and at school. She seems to be enjoying her class and teacher too which is good.

Surprisingly, Katie also took to school like a fish to water. I thought for sure that she would be scared when it came time to get on the bus and go. But when the bus came, she just marched right on without hesitation! I took some pictures as we did with Ellie. After school, I intended to go and meet them at the bus stop (just a couple houses over) but I slept through it! When Katie arrived, I told her I was sorry that I wasn't there and she just confidently responded "It's ok Mom, I like to walk home". Such a grown up now! I then tried to question her about the day and she said it was "fun" and I couldn't get much more out of her. When Steve got home I mentioned this to him, so he questioned her as well and she said her favorite part was "playing" and "games" and that she liked lunch. So there you have it, we now have two of our kids officially in "school". I think it is going to take me a little while to get used to the schedule though.

We have decided to put the girls in some other activities too. They are all in a dance class which, of course, they all really enjoy. Additionally, we enrolled katie in gymnastics because she has always shown a great degree of coordination and strength since she was a baby and we think she'll enjoy that (plus there is a friend from the neighborhood that is going to do it with her). Lastly, we decided to put Sarah in a play/dance/drama class. She LOVES it! It is right up her "Drama" alley!

Steve continues to love teaching and is finding his "groove" there. He is also doing some ultimate Frisbee with some of his peers. It is fun for him to compete again in sports. He is biking around here quite a bit and even tried to ride down to work and back. Downhill was all brakes due to the steep hills and then coming back up to where we live here was all uphill and about killed him (especially because he though he would take a "shortcut" into the woods that turned out to be an non-groomed trail that ended up at a very steep hill and fence that he had to climb and traverse).

I've decided that I need to get back on the exercise wagon myself, so I have ventured a couple of runs around the neighborhood over the last couple of weeks. I normally do not run and haven't in the past because it usually hurts my knees, but surprisingly, I've been able to run most of the way around the mile+ loop without needing to stop due to knee pain. I attribute this to all the walking/jogging that I did this past winter on the treadmill back in Illinois. This is all very exciting for me to finally be able to run and feel like I'm getting some good calorie burning.

New York Summer

2011-08-17T12:03:00.006-05:00

So we did end up moving in on the 13th. It was a little touch and go, but in the end, the keys were delivered at the same time the movers drove up to the door of our new home. The house is really nice. It is technically a duplex but no living space is adjoining, rather the units are connected by the garages which is very nice. It took about 3-4 weeks to get all moved in and we are still trying to find "permanent" resting places for some of our stuff, but overall we are quite settled now.

It it a GREAT neighborhood. There are tons of children all of the kids' ages and it is fun to see them all interact. It seems as though most of the kids gravitate over to our house as the hub of all of the activities. Our kids seem to really enjoy all of the attention and they are not at all shy about going around and knocking on the neighbors' doors to ask if their kids can play. Even Katie who is more prone to shyness knocks on the doors now.

All of the kids have scooters now and we even have one for Ryan and Tommy as soon as they grow into them. They are currently still used as loaners for the other kids that come by. The street in front of our house is used as a thoroughfare for a seemingly continuous run of walkers, runners, strollers and kids on bikes, scooters, go carts...etc (especially at night). What is missing are the cars! It is great to live on a non-through street so that the only car traffic we see are those who live on the road.

We also bought a trampoline for the kids. I'm surprised it has taken us this long to get one. It is a great investment! Between it, a little pool, bikes/scooters, and the kids' social scene, the little ones have basically lived outside this summer. A small miracle compared to the extreme bug phobia that the girls concocted last summer that prevented them from going outside at all! They have also enjoyed playing in the mud after storms, collecting rocks, feeding mosquito larva to the neighbor's fish, exploring, camping, swim lessons, swimming in lakes, tubing in rivers, and daring each other to do new tricks on the trampoline, and bikes. It is fun to watch. Speaking of new bike tricks....bikes here are very popular. Kids are riding them all over the place. Ellie jumped in and soon after Katie decided to drop the training wheels to be like Ellie and then the neighbor's picked up on the trend and then just the past week, Sarah even started to ride around without training wheels! All in all, I think there are about 6 little kids that learned to ride without training wheels in the month and a half. Lots of positive peer pressure.

We have been blessed with lots of friends here. In addition to the Tolmans who live about 10 minutes away, all of our neighbors are really great. Another one of Steve's good LDS friends/roomates from West Point (Matt Radik) is back here and it just so happens that he moved into the duplex next door! Another friend Steve knew back in his cadet days moved in right across the street. Lots of blessings in all from Heavenly Father in helping us get settled here. Our adjacent neighbors are very fun and their kids are always with ours. Another bonus was that my mom just spent 10 days out here with us. It was a treat for all of us to have her here. Also, this past weekend, we made a trip down to Philadelphia to see Steve's sister Diane. We braved tubing down the Delaware river with all of the kids. It was a ton of fun! All if the kids enjoyed it. The girls jumped in and floated around with their life vests and then would climb back onto the tubes when the "rapids" came. Tommy spent the whole time trying to jump out of the tube and splashed the water to his heart's content. A very fun outing! Plus, for a taste of history, we drove by where Washington crossed the Delaware.

Steve and I have been on a few dates since we arrived, but unfortunately we haven't found a permanent babysitting replacement yet for Charissa and Cole Johnson. We drove down into NY city a couple of times to attend the Manhattan temple for a couple of the dates and enjoyed it very much! It is amazing how the temple can keep out all of the noise of even NY city! Parking is the challenge there and the cheapest we have found so far is $35, so that is a little crazy. Steve and I both have been teaching in our West Point branch at church. The branch is a little unique in that we meet in one of the Academic building's auditoriums for sacrament and then in classrooms for Sunday School etc.

Since we arrived, we've had some of the cadets over for dinner a few times and that has always been a great experience. The kids love having visitors to come and play and it is nice for us to have them over. Steve had great sponsors (families in the branch) that took care of him while he was here and is enjoying doing the same for the current cadets.

Steve has been busy with projects at home including building a work bench in the garage and a really nice island for the kitchen. He has also loved his teaching position at work. He did some workshops over the summer that he enjoyed and has now just started teaching this week. He is really enjoying being back here at West Point and all it entails.

Life has been extra hectic, but full. I have been super tired ever since we moved here and had quite a few regular headaches. I decided to go and see a Doctor about it who happens to also do acupuncture. He proposed doing some on me and so far I have done a couple of sessions, but the jury is still out on whether it will work for me. As for projects, I've taken on the backyard hill. Our yard is new sod around the house, but on the hill behind our house, they just put down seed. I've pulled the weeds, watered it, and fertilized it. So far is it making good headway overall. The only probalem really is that we had a storm right after they placed all of the see and all of the runnoff from the hill came rushing down the hill right behind our house making a "grand canyon" and mud "delta". It also carried down a lot of the seed in a 8 foot swath or so, thinning that section significantly. We are hoping the ground's crew will patch the chasm; otherwise, I might have to take matters into my own hands. I will have a nice back yard! :)

Katie and Ellie are both going to school this year, so Sarah will be the lone girl at home. I'm not quite ready to let Katie go to school, especially since Kindergarten is all day here; but, time doesn't wait. She is both very excited and quite scared at the same time. Luckily, I think we are the last bus stop before it heads to the school in the morning which is ideal.

So in all, we are very blessed and very happy to be here in New York and enjoying life as the changes come our way!

horsie

2011-07-10T15:13:00.002-05:00

I think Steve is running out of back space...

New York

2011-06-04T11:33:00.002-05:00

New York, New York. Here we are. We spent our first week staying here with the Tolmans and they have been absolutely awesome. We still spend most of our days here, which is a lifesaver. The first night in the hotel with the 7 of us was a nightmare. I was ready to quit right there and then. But the last couple nights have been much better. Hopefully it won't be too much longer.

And that leads me to the housing draw. Oh, the stressful event that is called the housing draw. So to give a little info about West Point... This is the location of the United States Military Academy. The university that Steve graduated from. Also the university that Steve will be teaching mechanical engineering. There is a lot of housing on West Point. Unfortunately, not always enough for those that would like to live there. And not always enough houses that fit the sizes of families. So on June 1st there was a housing draw. There were certain criteria that decided where on the list we would be found (the order of choosing a house). These are the items taken into consideration: First and foremost- room requirements (we had a 6-bedroom req.), then rank (Major) and date of rank (nov '10). On the list we were #19. There were six 4-bedroom houses up in the brand new neighborhood that we really wanted. Then there were about ten in the 3-bedroom new houses. We assumed we would end up with the 3-bedroom houses. A little bummed, but we still preferred that to some of the other 4- or 5-bedroom homes (older and smaller). Or there was the option to wait it out and get one of the new 4-bedroom homes in October. Oh, the butterflies in my stomach as we waited for them to explain the rules and finally get to the draw. Details aside, we got a 4-bedroom home in the brand new neighborhood! Yippee! And some of the greatest things about this- it backs a brand new park, is on a flat road (it is extremely mountainous here) and we should be able to move in on my birthday, June 13th! I am extremely anxious to get on with this next stage of life. It has been 2 1/2 weeks in-transit so far and I am ready to have my things and my own space. Without the Tolmans I would be going absolutely batty in that hotel room!

I miss my parents, I miss my friends, and I miss my house in Illinois. But I love the mountains and I love the trees and I know I will love more about New York as well.

Ignoring the Elephant

2011-05-15T20:12:00.003-05:00

I wrote this over a week ago... wanted to get pictures, but that will come once we get our computer!

So, up until today I think I've done a pretty good job ignoring the elephant that has been hanging out in the room. If I just pretend I'm not going anywhere, then I won't get sad or cry or start binge eating. Well, the elephant presented itself today and all the above has started to happen. It's been a crazy weekend, too.

Friday was Ellie's birthday and she insisted I go with her to the zoo, which was a lot of fun. Then an hour after we got home 6 girls came over for a birthday party. It was quite the party. Painting of nails, decorating of cupcakes, decorating of picture frames, eating pizza, dressing up with feather boas and taking fun pictures, singing birthday songs, eating cupcakes, and opening presents. Then of course a few minutes to play with said presents, because who doesn't want to check out the gift they give a friend? Overall it was a lot of fun and I think the girls had a great time. I had made some adorable (if I do say so myself) reversible bags for the girls that had the boas, sunglasses and lip gloss cell-phones inside. Ellie headed home with Mom for an overnight at Grandma's. That evening we had a friend stay and play games until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

Saturday Steve threw a last party for all the scouts he has had since we've been here. It was supposed to be from 10-3, but the last boy didn't leave until almost 5. They played video games, ate pizza and played target practice with paintball guns. Perfect for a batch of 12-year olds.

Mom and Sybil/Dick arrived with Ellie at 4:45 and we soon after headed out to eat. Our kids are actually really good at restaurants, but the food took awhile and after having lemonade spilled on me twice I was ready to be done! After we ate we came home for more presents and cake/ice cream treats. Ellie was in heaven yet again. Her new doll, Liz, was a big hit and she has been carrying her around everywhere today. We're excited to take her to New York so she and her friend Emma can play dolls together. Steve and the kids all crashed at 8 and I stayed up until after midnight doing laundry (washing and folding 7 loads-worth) cleaning up and getting the house organized for the movers and taking a 1/2 hour treadmill break.

Then today hit and I knew I had to acknowledge that life is changing. I don't like saying good-bye because it makes me so sad. But I've made so many great friends here. This is the first place that I will truly miss when I leave. I know that sounds sad, but it's true. In the past I've been a bit of a hermit and just survived our posts. But here I have so many great friends. We've done cooking classes, music classes, play-dates, joyschool, many parties (who would have ever thought I would be the one throwing parties?) and just plain having fun hanging out. My kids love their kids. I love the moms and I have felt like myself around them. Sheesh... I'm gonna start crying again. I am going to miss everyone so much. My primary kids were so sweet today and gave me hugs and the sweetest cards telling me that they'll miss me. So yeah, this is hard.

It's a good thing we're headed towards friends, too. Otherwise I think I might go AWOL!

Easter Picture

2011-05-01T10:36:00.004-05:00

Cynthia and her family came up for the weekend and we had an awesome time staying up late playing games and the kids loved having cousins around. Then we all went to church together with my parents in Normal on Easter Sunday.

Less than 3 weeks before we move. It's really hard to believe!

Tommy at 9 Months

2011-03-20T20:29:00.002-05:00

Okay, so he technically will be 10 months in just 5 days, but we did take these pictures right around 9 months, I've just been a slacker and haven't posted. And I actually got him in to the doctor within that same week. That is practically unheard of these days!

Here are some fun things to note about Tom:

He's a big 24-pound boy that is wearing 18 month shirts and 12-month pants.

He is finally crawling. Happened right around 9 months. It started out very slow and deliberate, but he's now quite quick and disappears rapidly.

Has decided that he's attached to me. He's happy until I leave the room or move away from him. I am definitely home base right now.

Will only eat baby food if it is mixed with yogurt. Likes to eat table foods and is quite good at it.

Has 5 teeth!

Makes all sorts of fun noises and likes to copy or be copied in those sounds. Still nothing consistent.

Wakes up between 1-4 times at night. Thankfully we're most consistent with the 1 time per night. And he still needs to be swaddled to be a happy sleeping boy.

Is pulling up to his knees on furniture. Still not up to his feet. But I am okay with that!

Is still a sweet snuggler. I love how cuddly he is. I have certainly enjoyed this little guy. It is bittersweet to have him growing and changing. He is truly a blessing in our lives.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T10:53:00.004-05:00

Last night Ellie and Katie were insistent that a leprechaun was going to come visit our house. So they left a note, a cupcake and hoped for the best.

Are leprechauns real? Only if you really believe... But someone or something colored the picture, left a note, took a very tiny bite out of a cupcake and left some gold (chocolate) coins for the kids to enjoy.

Happy Anniversary

2011-02-28T15:14:00.004-06:00

TO ME!!!!

Eight years ago today I married my sweetheart in the Logan, UT temple and made the best decision ever.

Steve gave me a beautiful necklace, which was so, so sweet. And he also surprised me by having a sister in the ward (thanks, Sister Williamson!) come stay the night with the kids. I was a bit nervous to have her come, as she's a single mom with a grown son, so this would be a big shock! But she was willing, so away we went. We went out to eat, had our favorite ice cream, watched a movie and headed to a hotel. It was so nice to sleep a whole night with nobody waking me up! We had a continental breakfast in anticipation of a yummy lunch then drove another 2 hours down to the St. Louis Temple to do sealings, which is such an awesome thing to do, but especially close to a wedding anniversary. We got through just 5 before the incident outlined in the last post. And so Mom took over for Sister W, (who I guess was exhausted by Saturday afternoon- 5 kids under 7... yeah!). And that ended our wonderful anniversary weekend.

Although there were certainly dents in the road, it was wonderful to spend quality time with Steve without little ones vying for our attention. I am so grateful to be married to such a sweet, wonderful guy who takes care of me and our family and is just an awesome priesthood holder.

Mastitis

2011-02-28T14:57:00.004-06:00

Medical dictionary definition:

inflammation of the mammary gland usually caused by infection

If only it were so cut and dry like that!

So, Saturday I got to find out what a full-blown infection felt like. I had one with Ellie that resolved on its own. I had been feeling a bit of pain for a couple days, but thought it would go away as well. Steve and I were actually in the temple doing sealings and I got light-headed. I asked for a drink of water thinking that would help. I went back in and started to feel really faint. It was time to head out. As I changed clothes I got really cold. Then I felt nauseous and hung out in the bathroom for a few minutes while I waited. Nothing happened except for worrying a few really nice sisters. I finally made it to Steve and as we left the temple I started shaking uncontrollably. And that is not an understatement. I've had the shakes after my c-sections and that was pretty miserable, not being able to relax without shaking. But this was amplified about 5 times. I had to bite down on my pillow in the car to keep from biting my tongue. It stopped my teeth from chattering, but it moved down to my legs or hands or whatever else. Even tensing up didn't relieve it. Steve rushed me to the hospital, which thankfully was basically across the street and in we went. And then we waited, and waited and waited. Nothing like being in an emergency room and have things move like molasses! I think we were sitting for about an hour. They were nice enough to bring me a heated blanket, which actually helped calm down the shaking.

By the time I reached my room the shaking had stopped but my head was pounding. My brother-in-law, Tim, was kind enough to drive over and assist Steve in giving me a blessing (thanks Tim and Cynthia!!!) It was discovered I had a 102.3 temp, so after some Tylenol, an IV drip of antibiotics and a prescription we were on our way. I slept most the way home (3 hours) and Steve was awesome to drive even though he was tired. I ate some pretzels on the way home, but those came back up a few hours later (second time ever since we've been married). Headache still hadn't gone away. I went to bed at 8, but was up every hour with either chills or sweating bullets. It was a miserable night. I awoke to a fever and headache, but after some more Tylenol and rest that finally went away. I ate a few saltines and drank a few sips of 7-up on Sunday afternoon, but that just made my stomach hurt worse. The infected area has gotten more red and the tenderness still has not gone away. I have been able to eat a little bit of food today, which is giving me a bit more energy. I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll feel much better and that infection will just go away!!!

Steve and I joked that the only way I've been able to lose weight this time around has been when I was sick and couldn't eat for a couple days. Didn't plan on doing it again just a month later! Although, I am 10 pounds lighter than I was a month ago after the first bout of stomach bugs. Exercise and diet didn't accomplish what starvation did... :-/

So yeah, miserable, miserable, miserable. And on top of it all, I think my milk is drying up. Ah... C'est la vie.

Katie's winter pictures

2011-02-13T07:30:00.003-06:00

When we took Ryan out the other day for picture, Katie insisted on getting her picture taken as well.

Disaster Boy Turns 2

2011-02-04T21:37:00.007-06:00

How did it happen that my little guy is turning 2 today? He has brought an enormous amount of love and laughter to this family.

Here are some of my favorite things about Birthday Boy Ryan:

He loves, loves, loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. He is the sweetest little boy. In the morning especially he likes to come down and snuggle with Steve.

I can't believe how polite he is. Ryan is the only one of our kids who consistently says please and thank-you. He knows if he says please he'll get pretty much whatever he wants. Why haven't the girls picked up on that? His language skills are improving significantly as well. I can understand Ryan-ese much better than most, but he is really taking great strides.

He has earned his nickname and more. Ryan can get into anything and everything. In a way I totally admire his determination. He doesn't just whine and wait for someone to do it for him. He takes matters into his own hands and accomplishes what he wants accomplished. Raiding the candy stash, tearing open a favorite snack (goldfish all over the floor), moving a stool over to get a cup and attempt to get water from the fridge by standing on the dishwasher, etc. There is almost always a mess in the wake of Ryan.

Ryan is a furniture mover. It allows him to complete those tasks outlined above.

He is learning to fight back. Sarah gets her hair pulled a lot. Katie and Ellie get hit quite a bit. We all get a tongue-out raspberry when he's frustrated. Tommy occasionally gets shoved aside when precious lap space is being infringed upon.

Ryan adores Tommy. He's constantly giving him hugs and kisses and brings him toys when he's sad. Again, there's only jealousy when Ryan wants the snuggle that Tom is receiving.

Every meal is called "yunch". If he's hungry, that's what he asks for. He eats just about everything. Luckily his food allergies have all but disappeared. I'm still careful with eggs, but that is really it. The only foods I know he can't stand and won't eat: bananas and eggs....well, up until yesterday, he devoured the scrambled eggs I made and seems to be ok with them! We don't even have him on his allergy medicine anymore which is a blessing (though that may be due to it being around zero degrees outside!)

Ryan is such a girl sometimes. He changes clothes multiple times a day (yet again, since I won't do it for him, he does it himself.) He has favorite clothes that he prefers to wear if they are clean. He does not like to be dirty for long. He screams like a girl. But I suppose that's not completely his fault. He likes to wear bracelets and carry around a purse. He likes to push babies in strollers. He loves, loves, LOVES shoes. It's really quite scary how much he likes his accessories. Ryan even loves to wear a tie to church and as soon as he knows it's church day he runs to his room and picks one out.

But he's also such a boy. He climbs on everything. He growls all the time. He loves balls and cars. His latest is to put a basket or bucket on his head and walk around trying to scare everyone. Really quite funny.

He loves to have his hands in his pockets. It always makes me laugh because he looks like he's being all "GQ" when he does it. I have to be very careful when it's time to do laundry. I have found grapes, chapstick, marbles, crackers. All sorts of fun things.

Ryan has serious separation anxiety. We've had the same babysitter for almost 2 years and he still cries when we leave. He refuses to go to Nursery alone. Steve has become Ryan's favorite, finally. My dad ("abapa") is probably a close second. Typically anyone that talks to Ryan gets a blank stare or a scowl.

We have not kicked the pacifier habit yet. We have restricted it to bedtime. He is definitely addicted! He's still in a crib, too. I'm not ready to give up either crutch yet.

He loves to read books. Some favorites (and it's funny to watch him pick up a book, look at it, and throw it down for a different one that he likes more):

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Moo, Baa, La la la

I Feel My Savior's Love

5 Little Monkeys

Winnie the Pooh board books

I Can be Reverent

What Makes a Rainbow

10 Little Ladybugs (now destroyed...hmmm)

Ryan is the perfect addition to our family. I can't imagine life without this cuddle-bug. Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet boy.

(We had a snow-globe snow this morning and I made Steve go out and take pictures. We got some awesome ones of Katie, too that I'll post tomorrow.)

Sick, Sick, Sick

2010-12-28T21:31:00.003-06:00

I feel as though that is the theme around here. Tommy has had a cough/cold for over a month. Ryan had a fever and cough on Christmas (thank you Walgreens workers for being in on Christmas day), Ellie was at the ER at midnight last night with an ear infection, etc... We have all been pretty miserable this month.

But this is about sweet Tommy. Yesterday we decided it was high time the poor little guy got checked out. He had a fever and the cough was sounding worse. Steve took him in to the doc and he prescribed a steroid and antibiotic. Then he sent us down to a lab in Champaign to get some chest X-rays taken, just to be sure. Well, have you ever seen how they take X-rays of little ones? Because babies are obviously very squirmy. I just had to take a picture on my phone. And let me tell you, our little guy was such a trooper. We sat in the waiting room for 1 1/2 hours to get 5 minutes worth of x-rays. So we went back, and after removing his shirt, Tom was placed into this little tube thingy.

I cannot believe how mellow he was about this. That's some COLD plastic! And Tommy? Just sat there wiggling his fingers and swinging his feet. The tech couldn't believe it and had some of the other techs come take a look because he was so cute. I even got him to smile while sitting in there! He had an x-ray from the front and back. The results: pneumonia! Not good. So, I took him back to the doctor where they gave him two shots as boosters to get his body healing. He was back at the doc today for a follow-up and they put him on another antibiotic to make sure and kill it for good. But, being the sweet boy he is, you'd never know he didn't feel well. All smiles and sweetness. I sure love this little guy. I hope we can get rid of this so we both can start getting more sleep at night!

A couple things I've been wanting to say...

2010-11-21T20:09:00.007-06:00

There have been so many blog posts running through my head lately that I thought I'd just put a few things down while I have a minute.

First of all, Ellie has finally ditched the training wheels! Hooray! And once she decided to do it, she learned in no time at all (apparently she did it first try). We actually got her a new bike (since 2 bikes for 3 girls was causing some serious complaining), but I took these the first day she rode without the training wheels.

Tommy likes to be sitting upright or playing in his exersaucer now. He doesn't like to be left on his back for long; although he still isn't rolling from back to front.

Okay, so this is a bit of a trip down memory lane for me. These outfits were mine when I was little. Can you tell what decade I danced in? Ha!

But there's an interesting lesson that I've learned from remembering that pink one in particular. Elder Bednar was here this weekend for Stake conference and he and Elder Ward from the Seventy talked a bit about what we're teaching our kids. Let me explain where I'm trying to go with this. When it was time to buy a leotard Mom took me shopping and I found this one. I just had to have it- it had the cute little belt just like Miss Janet, my dance teacher! I tried it on and convinced my mom that yes, it was perfect and I had to have it. I would guess that it was not cheap and we didn't have money to just buy "things" when I was growing up. Well, we got it home and the first day of class I noticed that those cute straps were digging into my shoulders. Apparently it didn't fit as well as I originally thought. But you know what? I never once mentioned this to my mom. I knew the sacrifice she had made to get me the one thing I really, really wanted. There was no way I was going to hurt her feelings by telling her that it didn't fit. So I wore a too-small dance outfit the whole year. I felt beautiful, but more importantly, I took responsibility for my actions. Now on to my lesson. I love to buy kid clothes. It is just fun for me to dress my kids up cute. But I've noticed that they are becoming less and less appreciative of the nice things I buy them. "It's itchy," "I can't find anything that matches," "the sleeves aren't long enough," etc... I hear these comments and while it sometimes bugs me and sometimes hurts my feelings, in the end it really is my own fault. Just because I can afford to buy my kids nice things doesn't mean I need to go overboard. It is time for me to assess what is important in life, and material things aren't it! And I want my kids to know that as well.

**quite a lesson just from 2 dance outfits, huh?**

And that leads me to another lesson I've been learning (or re-learning) lately. Priorities. I have gotten into the whole coupon craze that has hit around the country. It is just so much fun! But it takes a ton of time and that is time that really should be spent elsewhere. And so I have decided to step back and just worry about the necessary groceries and play the coupon game when life is a tad bit less hectic. So sad! Just because it's a good deal doesn't mean I need it!

Steve and Tommy

2010-11-07T23:02:00.002-06:00

Make that THREE posts today!

I pointed out that Tommy actually does look like Steve (we've been trying to figure out just who he resembles.) What do you think?

Tommy 5 months

2010-11-07T21:26:00.006-06:00

I know, two posts in one day... amazing

I took Tommy in for his well-baby appointment this week and he's a big boy! (Yes, I'm over a month behind on his appointments.) So my 5-month old is off the charts for everything. A baby this age should not be 21 pounds and wearing 12-month clothes!

We tried baby food today for the first time.

He's not convinced...

Tommy just figured out how to roll from his tummy to his back. Mostly he's happy just watching what's going on, not really interested in moving. I call him my chubba-lump.

I sure love this little guy!

A peek at Halloween fun

2010-11-07T11:30:00.005-06:00

One of these days I will do an actual blog post. For now you just get more pictures. We didn't do any trick-or-treating this year because we got to go to my Dad's concert instead. My sister's kids dressed up with my kids and as we didn't get many good pics, we'll try again at Thanksgiving time.

A picture in true Western style!

look at those chubby legs!

two little Indians

two warriors

Tim with the Indians at the concert

Cynthia's sweet Sam

Fall Pics

2010-11-01T17:55:00.001-05:00

My beautiful girls :)

2010-10-22T08:06:00.003-05:00

Our boys

2010-09-26T21:51:00.002-05:00

Ryan is always so good with Tommy and always very loving. He has been very huggy with all his siblings actually which is very fun to watch. Steve doesn't think that they look too much alike, but here is proof positive!

Arguing...

2010-08-30T14:39:00.002-05:00

Me: "See this is why we didn't want you to come down stairs, you guys just keep arguing."

Katie (pleading): "Noooooo....we are not arguating!"

Tommy at 3 mo

2010-08-24T17:45:00.007-05:00

I can't believe Tom is already 3 month old... time sure flies. Tiff had me take a few shots to memorialize it. And props to the girls who were the....well...props. (Katie is under the white blanket as a support bump and Ellie and Sarah were holding up the backdrop blanket :)

quotes

2010-08-01T15:52:00.003-05:00

Katie:

Fun words: lello (yellow), snake en' booty (sleeping beauty),

Mommy, we never eat rabiloni!

Oh look! The Moon! It's plugged in!

Sarah:

Words: Zeszzert (desert),

I cleaned up the table by myself-all. Do I get a treat now?

Steve or I ask any question to sarah: "Ellie did it."

Daddy! Ellie was going to cut off my head! That is why I need to get off. (get out of time out)

Ellie:

I'm not going to change diapers when I'm grown up. "How are you ever going to have babies?" I'll get my husband to do it.

So There

2010-06-22T22:37:00.004-05:00

Ellie was having a rough day Sunday. She was making a lot of bad choices and therefore getting in quite a bit of trouble. Steve was being the disciplinarian and Ellie was not happy about his chastisements. That night she was saying prayers and part of it went something like this, "thankful for mommy, daddy, grandma ... (pause)... thankful for mommy, grandma, grandpa..."

hands

2010-06-10T23:31:00.003-05:00

Steve got the new photoshop software and had some fun...

kissable toes

2010-06-03T22:19:00.006-05:00

I love newborn hands and feet. And little Tom's are no exception.

I haven't done a post about our newest little guy. There are lots of pictures that Steve sent out to friends and family. I'll find some and post them down below. He just gets cuter and cuter by the day. But for those that don't know, here are his stats:
Born: May 25th at 8:19am by c-section
weight: 10-3
length: 22.5"

So yeah, he was a big boy. No wonder my body was hurting those last couple weeks! He is a perfect little baby. He eats well, sleeps well, and is so incredibly content. I am one blessed momma (of 5 kids!)

Hospitals

2010-05-31T20:40:00.006-05:00

I don't mind hospitals. I worked as a CNA for 4 months before Steve and I got married and I loved it. Of course, I was on Mother/Baby and it was so much fun. I've had 5 babies now and I've decided that I like hospitals when it's on Mother/baby. I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday and seriously, I can't say enough about how great my experience was this time around. The surgery went well, the nurses were awesome, the pain was manageable, and I had an adorable baby boy to love and snuggle.

But sometimes there are complications. Oh, miserable complications.

Sunday my parents came down to take the kids to church with Steve and even brought dinner. I have such awesome parents. I was good and only went downstairs twice. After dinner and a fun "welcome home" cake my parents decided it was time to head home. They were both exhausted after taking care of my kids all week. They were definitely looking forward to an early bedtime and sleeping in the next day! I was not feeling so great- feeling sore from what I assumed was incisional pain, so after getting the kids ready for bed (7:30-ish) I retired to my room and my spot on the bed. About 1/2 later I got the most intense pain in my abdomen. Holy moly, I don't think I've ever felt that kind of pain before. I couldn't move it was so bad. I called Steve upstairs to help me lay down, hoping it would make the pain lessen. I took my Hydrocodon and Ibuprofen and there was no relief coming. I kinda scared Steve as I was moaning in excruciating pain. Looking at my belly he thought he saw bruising, which would indicate internal bleeding, and that scared him a bit as well. He called the nurse help line and finally gave up and called an ambulance, as there was no way he could move me. And then my parents, who hadn't been home very long, got a call to come back and stay the night with the kids (including Thomas!) Our neighbor across the street, who likes to be in "the know" came over until my parents could get back down. The fire department EMTs showed up first from Mahomet and assessed my pain and vitals. I've never had a 150/90 blood pressure reading before! Because putting pressure on my right side seemed to give me relief, they assumed it was my appendix. And unfortunately they were not allowed to give me any pain meds so that the doctors at the hospital could accurately assess the location and level of pain. Lovely. Trust me, I could tell them that it HURT!!! A few minutes later we heard the sirens of the ambulance. They carried me down the stairs in a little chair, strapped me to a gurney, and took me out to the ambulance with the flashing lights. There was a graduation party going on across the street, so we received a sufficient audience on our way out :) And amazingly, Katie and Ellie were not upset at all about what was happening. They just gave me a kiss and said good-bye. Maybe the promise of Grandma and Grandpa's return helped? I still received no pain meds in the ambulance and apparently they didn't use the siren or lights and went the speed limit :( Lame! But Steve got to be an ambulance chaser, which is fun to be able to say. What a long, long night in the E.D. (it's not an ER, it's an ED here). Everything seemed like it was in slow motion. No hurrying for them, unfortunately. It took 3 good hits with the morphine before my pain finally found relief. Then I had a CAT scan and waited and waited for the results. Not the appendix this time, but rather a hematoma in my muscles. Just a fairly rare complication of my surgery earlier in the week. The on-call OB doc came in and told me she was going to keep me for observation overnight and see how I looked by morning. Of course, by this time it's 3:30 in the morning. I was exhausted, I was just told I couldn’t nurse my baby for 24 hours because of the dye they used for the scan, and I'm stuck in the hospital, in a shared room, with no Steve and no baby. Thomas is not even a week old yet and I was being separated from him! I was an emotional wreck. The poor nurse didn't know what to do with me. And to top it off, it just made my belly hurt more by crying. I wanted a quick solution that would send me home to recover. After a couple hours sleep I was feeling better this morning.

So here's the verdict: since there was no sign of infection, there was no good reason to go to the OR and clean it up. I was totally fine with that! I just have to wait for my body to absorb the blood that leaked out into my abdomen. It'll add a couple more weeks to my recovery, but otherwise I do not have any more limits than I did from the C-section. I am still in quite a bit of pain, but it's finally being managed with pain meds and it looks like I can be discharged tomorrow morning. After so many worst-case-scenarios running through my mind all night, it was a relief to know that it was nothing more serious.

Apparently Tom wasn't thrilled about Grandma taking care of him, so she didn't get much sleep last night. Thankfully he was okay with Steve, who relieved her when he got home around 3:30AM. My parents, who were like zombies this morning (did I mention how awesome they are?) took Katie, Sarah and Ryan home with them. I was told that I had to stick around here for another full day (boo!) and here I am. I had quite the roommate and am glad she was discharged this afternoon. A little too much swearing was coming from her side of the curtain! Apparently I’m about to get another roommate soon from a 10-car pile-up. Steve came by with Thomas and it was nice to be able to spend the afternoon with my baby. I couldn't nurse him, but he took the formula just fine (I had supplemented in the hospital, so he was a pro with the syringe). I'm anxious to get back home and finish healing.

Even though this has been a trial, everything fell into place and worked out just fine. The hospital had sent us home with extra formula, so Tom had food to eat. My parents are just 40 minutes away, so they could come rescue us no problem (and come help give me a blessing). I did not need any kind of surgery (I believe a result of that blessing) so I had just 2 nights in the hospital, nothing more. And tomorrow I go home.

So again, I don’ t mind hospitals when I’m delivering a baby and it’s all happiness and joy. I think I’ll stick with that from now on! This is just plain lame!

Steve's shirts

2010-05-10T13:06:00.007-05:00

I have always read in my pregnancy magazines that when your own clothes get too tight, it's a great time to raid your husband's closet. I always said it would be a sad day if I ever got big enough to need to wear Steve's clothes. Come on, he's 6'5'' and usually weighs almost 100 lbs more than me. Well, it is a sad, sad day...

And just for the record, I don't wear these shirts out in public! I walked past a mirror last night and saw this profile and just had to get picture proof of how silly I look. Oh- and I'm wearing the necklace that Sarah made me during Nursery for Mother's Day. :)

Counting Down

2010-05-09T20:46:00.004-05:00

The days are counting down to the arrival of our little guy. I have to admit- this has been by far the hardest pregnancy on my body. I just hurt all the time. Makes keeping up with kids, chores, cooking and all the other zillions of things about impossible. We've been eating a lot of macaroni and other simple meals around here (if they're lucky to even get that much!). 2 more weeks... just 2 more weeks.
*This picture was taken about 3 weeks ago. I am much bigger and carrying MUCH lower now. Ouch!

Quotable Sarah

2010-05-02T20:06:00.005-05:00

Sarah said a couple funny things tonight.

At dinner Sarah said, "I was robbed."
Steve, "you were robbed?"
"Yeah"
"Where?"
"In the temple."
?

As Steve was reading scriptures tonight he asked the girls, "who is the evil one?" Sarah's response: "Pinky Pie!" (For those of you who are way out of the loop or don't have little girls, Pinky Pie is a 'My Little Pony')

Happy Birthday Sarah!

2010-04-17T22:10:00.002-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sarah! I will be posting fun pictures from our day soon. Sarah was a perfect angel and loved everything about her day today. Hard to believe she's already 3! So now our kids are 0,1,3,4 and 5.

Bunny Family

2010-04-16T22:43:00.004-05:00

The other morning Steve looked out our window at the lawn. He then asked, "why is there a family of bunnies on our lawn?" I looked down and what did I see? It was a family of stone rabbits perfectly lined up along the bushes. Rabbits that were supposed to be decorating our neighbor's trees! Yikes! We quickly sent the girls out to return them to where they belonged (maybe the neighbors didn't notice the hijacked bunnies?) My girls love families- whether it is my little ponies or decorative lawn ornaments.

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T21:01:00.003-05:00

Happy Easter from the Elgans!

Wonderful wonderful girl....

2010-04-03T01:55:00.000-05:00

I'm hijacking Tiff's blog tonight to voice my extreme admiration and love for her. She is simply amazing. I love you Tiff.

Anniversary Trip

2010-03-07T20:12:00.003-06:00

Steve and I celebrated our 7th anniversary last Sunday. We had hoped to go and do an overnight temple trip, but our babysitter (my mom) had a horrible sinus infection, so we decided to just put it off a week. Friday we took Ellie out of school, dropped the kids off at my parent's house and headed over to Nauvoo. We got there in time to get a hotel room, change clothes and head over for the last session of the day. What a wonderful experience. We haven't been in that temple together since our honeymoon, so it's been a long time. The workers were amazingly sweet and genuinely excited that we were there. That sure made us feel good. The session was wonderful, we could take our time afterwards without feeling rushed and it was just perfect. We then went in search for food. Not exactly an easy thing to do in Nauvoo! We actually ended up driving over to Fort Madison, IA and picked a random mom and pop pizza joint off our GPS. That ended up being a great idea! Steve and I ate entirely too much pizza, it was so good.

After a nice, quiet night's sleep (no children waking up at strange hours) we dressed again and went back to the temple to do some sealings. Dad had given me a huge stack to do and again, it was perfect. The woman I did the session for the night before was sealed to her spouse, which was neat. We were there for almost 2 hours and I can't even begin to explain how awesome it was. To be reminded of all the promises we were given when we were married 7 years ago was wonderful. I can't wait to go back and do it again!

We went back to my parent's house, picked up the kids (of course they wanted to stay longer) and got home just in time for our babysitter to show up. Yep, we were heading out again. Ryan was not happy about this at all!! A guy that Steve works with is dating a gal that was in a show last night called, "Bellies for Life." It was a bunch of belly dancers that put on a show to raise money for Breast Cancer Research. We stayed for only an hour of the show (I would guess it lasted almost 3) but it was actually quite enjoyable. It's amazing how much jiggling was going on, though! Typically belly dancers are not thin... We stopped for dinner, grabbed a few groceries and were home in time for a movie and bed.

What a perfect weekend. I wish we could that more often! Unfortunately Steve was up most of last night with food poisoning and I've been miserably sick all day. But nothing will overshadow that weekend we enjoyed together.

Photo shoot

2010-02-20T13:27:00.005-06:00

For Christmas we got a game from the Tolman's called "Pretty, pretty princess." It is a huge hit around here. Yesterday the girls decided that they would dress up as their princesses and play the game. Once they had all received their jewelry Ellie suggested we take some pictures. Since I had just bought some flowers to do pictures at some point, I decided to go ahead with it. Steve did some really great editing on some of these. I'm starting to learn, but still not as good as him- so when I can get his assistance, I take it!

Valentine project

2010-02-15T10:35:00.004-06:00

We have been doing many, many Valentine projects around here. The girls did tons while we were visiting my mom last week to include heart cookie pops and a valentine tree (they painted a tree branch and hung heart-shaped ornaments that they decorated on it. I'll try to get a picture before it gets too destroyed). Then Saturday we made these Hershey Kiss Valentine mice. I don't know if you can see them in the pictures very well or not. Regardless, the girls really enjoyed these projects.

Ellie

2010-02-14T09:50:00.001-06:00

Last night as we were reading scriptures Ellie said, "I hope I'm little when Jesus comes again so I can gather 'round his knee."

Ryan turns 1!

2010-02-07T19:41:00.006-06:00

It does not even seem possible that Ryan is a year old already. It has been a wonderful year with our little guy. There have been hard times with his diet and he still doesn't sleep through the night, but those are extremely minor complaints compared to all the wonderful joys he has brought into our family.

At a year old Ryan:
-Learned to walk on his birthday! Steve was really hoping he would do it and tried to encourage it all day long. Finally after dinner Ryan saw a ball Steve was holding and since he can't resist playing with balls, he walked right over and got it. Then he was on a roll. He practiced walking the rest of the evening until bedtime. And he has been going strong ever since.
-Is still the cuddliest little baby. I can't even begin to explain how much I love this attribute of his. My kids have all been snuggly, but Ryan especially loves to lay his head on my shoulder or come sit on my lap.
- has an extremely happy personality. He is constantly lighting up the room whenever he's around. Although, he does not perform for strangers! Ryan is the one that keeps me laughing.
- is able to eat a lot more food now. I saw the allergist and he didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but just encouraged me to keep adding new foods to Ryan's diet. So, we're still avoiding preservatives, onion, garlic, strawberries, and egg whites (the one allergy he tested positive for) and so far he's doing well. There's a little bit more eczema, but otherwise he's definitely enjoying his new diet!
- is definitely growing. He's now between 18-24 month clothes (at least on top) and is thinning out a bit. Oh- and he's actually starting to grow some hair! It's amazing!
- has 3 words that he uses consistently: "hi," "dis" and "dad". When we go to get him from his bed he always greets us with that "hi". (Steve gets the "hi dad")
- plays very well with his sisters. Katie likes to harass him and Ryan likes to harass Sarah, which I must admit is really quite amusing. He loves chasing them around the house- definitely a favorite game right now.
- loves, loves, loves balls. On the first day he started walking it was that ball that motivated him. And then he continued to walk over and kick it.

We had to postpone his birthday party because of bad weather, so on Saturday we had my parents as well as Dick and Sybil over for dinner and cake. Steve was the artist yet again on this cake and I must brag that it turned out great! We let Ryan eat as much as he wanted (I actually found a recipe that didn't use egg whites that was very tasty) and he even got to eat some of the ding-dong tire, which was his favorite.

A bit later he decided to show off his walking on the table and tipped over into his cake. His demolition was quite impressive.
Ryan was extremely tired by the time we did presents and insisted he sit in my lap. He loved the cars he got (even knew how to make the car noise... how do boys always know?).

Mom blew up a lot of balloons (at the girls' insistence) and Ryan has been thoroughly enjoying them with the girls.

And here's a picture taken today of the girls. They all stayed home from church with Steve today (all were sick in one way or another) and Ellie requested this picture be taken.

Beautiful Day

2010-01-31T21:19:00.003-06:00

As we were leaving church today, Sarah told me that it was a beautiful day. I asked what she meant and with a sweep of her hand she pointed to the sky and said, "look- it's all blue. I'm tired of the all-white sky". And I had to agree! I never know what that little girl will come up with next.

I seem to be quoting Sarah a lot. The others say very clever things, too. I just forget to write them down while they're fresh in my memory. And I still need to do a post about our cruise. I'll get around to it soon...

And then of course the biggest news around here lately... the ultrasound on Monday.

If you're not savvy with ultrasound pictures...
Top left: two feet
Top right: profile
Bottom left: boy...
Bottom right: looking right at us- this one is the toughest to pick out probably.

Ellie has been teaching Katie how to spell her name lately. Since Ellie stays up about 1/2 hour later than the others she has started doing art projects at night. Last night she decided to surprise Katie with what I call her "trail of love." She drew pictures and wrote Katie's name on all of these papers- leading from their bedroom down to the living room. She was so excited about this and even woke her sisters this morning so they could all discover it together. I love when they do sweet things like that for each other.

Tonight they dressed up similar and were marching around the house. Funny the things they come up with. Those are Ryan's ties, by the way. And with Children's Place clearance I found those cute sweaters for next to nothing and Carter's had those footy jammies. Can I just say that I love to shop clearance!

New Family Photo

2010-01-20T12:30:00.002-06:00

Finally Some Pictures!

2010-01-09T20:24:00.011-06:00

I have been wanting to do something with pictures, but I'm lazy and prefer to have Steve do the editing since he does such a better job. But he's busy and I want to share, so you'll have to make do with my photo editing this time around :) A few of these are from Christmas morning. Here are some of my favorite shots...

After a whole lot of messing up and frantically searching for sold-out fabric to fix my mess-up, I made these nightgowns for my girls as well as the two Tolman girls. I swore it wasn't worth all the time and effort, but the girls wear them all the time, so I'm starting to rethink that promise. Then Grandma was wonderful and made matching jammies for their dolls. How fun is that?
Steve got these noise canceling headphones for his woodworking, but we thought Ryan should try them on for size. Looks like it'll be awhile before he can help out in the workshop :) Oh- and the orange was one of his favorite Christmas presents.

This toy is quite popular and is used all the time in the house. Ryan thought he should get a turn and he loved it!

Another of Ryan's favorite toys. He loves to push things.

Now this is by far the favorite gift from Christmas. There are girls riding this horse practically nonstop. If you turn it on, it plays "Home on the Range", galloping sounds and neighing. It gets old after awhile and we have them turn it off, but the girls love it.

I know I said I'd post pictures of everyone in the snow, but only Ryan was here (the girls were corralled to make cookies at a friend's house) so I bundled him up for a photo op. You never know when we'll have such a beautiful snow again. Thanks to all the friends who passed down these wonderful snow clothes! He was really quite enjoying himself until the mittens started falling off. It was cold!

Ellie asked my mom to make a sweater for her doll. Well, Mom had the fabric all cut and ready to go and her machine broke. I told Ellie and she was crushed. She even started crying. It was really quite tragic. So that night I decided that since I had extra fabric I would make a cape to keep Lilly warm until Grandma could get her sewing machine fixed. Ellie was quite pleased. But here's a quiz for you. At the breakfast table we were having a discussion about the fact that Belle had a cape, too. Steve was sure it was blue, Ellie was insistent it was red. Steve finally looked it up. How well do you know your Disney movies? Who was right? The colorblind Dad or the fashion expert Ellie? That may or may not be a leading remark...

I have never actually documented this and thought I'd do it for memory's sake. Ryan doesn't get to bathe in the big tub with the girls. He gets the purple bin, which he actually loves.

And there you have it. Steve and I are leaving early Monday morning on vacation. My parents are being saints and taking all four kids for the week so we can go on a cruise alone. We haven't been on vacation alone since we were first married and went to Disney World with our good friends, the Tolmans. I can't even begin to say how extremely excited I am about this trip! Now I just need to get packed so we can go...

Backwards

2010-01-07T12:13:00.003-06:00

Why is it that at the beginning of January, when it actually snows, there are no snow clothes to be found? They're already bringing out the Spring line! So, ebay, here I come. (Ellie has a snowsuit, but we are in need of just snow pants to go with her winter coat so she can wear it to school).

There is an absolutely gorgeous snow outside right now. Hopefully I can get a picture or two before three little icicles come back in the house :)

Family Newsletter 2009

2010-01-04T13:17:00.004-06:00

Steve went ahead and shared this on Facebook, so I suppose I ought to put it on here as well :)

2009 Family Letter

quote

2010-01-03T20:51:00.000-06:00

“A home without books is like a room without windows… A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.” ~Henry Ward Beecher

Love it.

naked pizza

2009-12-28T17:24:00.003-06:00

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

2009-12-11T11:00:00.003-06:00

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

2009-12-10T18:57:00.003-06:00

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

2009-12-09T13:54:00.006-06:00

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...

2009-12-03T19:24:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-21T09:23:00.006-06:00

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

2009-11-15T15:34:00.006-06:00

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

2009-11-09T14:09:00.007-06:00

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

2009-10-27T12:43:00.005-05:00

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

2009-10-23T12:35:00.005-05:00

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

2009-09-30T23:00:00.003-05:00

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

2009-09-25T13:09:00.005-05:00

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

2009-09-21T22:48:00.003-05:00

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

2009-09-13T17:05:00.003-05:00

The labor day parade:

Sarah's latest

2009-09-04T21:47:00.006-05:00

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

2009-09-01T22:37:00.005-05:00

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

2009-08-30T21:46:00.005-05:00

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

2009-08-26T20:54:00.004-05:00

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

2009-08-21T16:35:00.004-05:00

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

2009-08-20T12:26:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-08-08T20:20:00.003-05:00

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...

2009-08-04T16:42:00.005-05:00

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

2009-07-28T14:08:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-07-26T15:37:00.002-05:00

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?

2009-07-21T14:04:00.004-05:00

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

2009-07-17T21:05:00.002-05:00

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

2009-07-12T21:28:00.002-05:00

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

2009-07-10T22:14:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-02T20:54:00.002-05:00

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

2009-06-28T22:07:00.003-05:00

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

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T18:09:00.004-05:00

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

2009-06-21T18:02:00.002-05:00

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

2009-06-17T13:24:00.002-05:00

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

2009-06-17T09:48:00.005-05:00

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

2009-06-04T11:24:00.003-05:00

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

2009-05-17T09:39:00.002-05:00

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

2009-05-12T11:09:00.000-05:00

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

2009-05-01T13:21:00.002-05:00

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

2009-04-26T21:03:00.002-05:00

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

2009-04-23T20:52:00.002-05:00

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

2009-04-21T21:43:00.002-05:00

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

2009-04-21T10:18:00.003-05:00

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

2009-04-21T09:37:00.005-05:00

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

2009-04-19T19:36:00.002-05:00

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

2009-04-12T20:56:00.000-05:00

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!