I Love to See the Temple

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

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

Ryan

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

1st day of school

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

Mini Me

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

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

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

And finally Tiff and Sarah at about 18 months.

Great Day!

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

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

Just like...

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

Strawberries

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

Awww...

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

Seriously?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Much-needed break

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

Anyway... on to my post.

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

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

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

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

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

Funny Ellie

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

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

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

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

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

It's that bad

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

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

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

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

And then they were gone

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

Spies

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

Happy Father's Day!

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

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