To the farm!

It's 2am, so naturally, I just needed to throw up a few pictures. We made it to the farm! And technically, today is granny's birthday!!!  I can't wait to celebrate. She told me tonight she didn't expect to live this long. Ha, I don't think many of us do! I hope she enjoys the day and the festivities. She deserves it. 

Today, we woke up, packed the car, came to the farm, hung out a bit, ran errands (mom and I), played outside (dad and the kids), and then got everyone to bed as they came. We've got a full house here tonight! 

Brady, constantly sports. 

Her most preferred sleeping position. 

The third row crew. Abigail worked on her journaling and school work. 

The front two rows. 

Granny's safe headrest. ; ) And Elizabeth's loving gaze. 

They love this bike. 

Abigail has been in heaven with all my old barbies. Also, she likes when we watch her play. And luckily, Elizabeth provides a happy audience. 

I walked out to this. It made my heart so happy. 

Honey spent the night at the Rockies game with his brothers. 

Mom and I got all the stuff on dad's list. We call him grandfather Christmas. My favorite quote from him this trip was about how he's the grandpa and his job is to say "YES! And would you like ice cream with that?!"  Haha. I love it. Mom and I were basically just his little elves. 

Meanwhile, at the North Pole... 

They love the cousin babes. 

It was adorable. 

These little twins were so excited to match. 

Those thighs. I texted this picture to honey. He told me I should just go ahead and take a bite. We call that crime. Honey loves taking a bite out of crime. I told him it was pretty tempting. I'm missing that guy tonight. 

I was so insanely exhausted this morning. Like my body was making up for how awake I was yesterday. So this morning I woke up feeling drugged. Crossing my fingers I won't feels that way tomorrow.  But seriously, this is her favorite sleep position. That left hand is always tucked under her back like that, head to the right. I love her so much. 

In Atlanta! And Elizabeth update...

We made it! I'm so excited to finally be here! 

And to have my first flyingwiththreekidsbymyself trip under my belt. Happily, all went super well and it was almost exactly like flying with two kids. Because Elizabeth... Still practically a pet rock. 

And it's 2am, my pretty standard atlanta bedtime, so I should be off to sleep. 

Oh, but I do need to mention... Elizabeth is going on 72 hours or so of no swaddle! We had to take a break because of teething avs I just didn't think it was the right time... But then I just felt like she was ready for it on Monday and she's done really well. I'm so proud of that little girl. 

And she went to sleep in the pack n play tonight with minimal fussing!  Woohoo! Now if we can just get her roseola rash to go away and get that other top tooth to finish coming in, we'll be good as gold! 

Elizabeth and roseola

Elizabeth had this out of the blue fever this weekend. I realized this morning that I never even checked it with a thermometer so I don't know how high it was, but she was HOT. And fussy. We didn't go to church on Sunday (it was cancelled except for sacrament meeting because of the snow) and, with time, she's become less sensitive and more her usual self. Still a lot more fussy than usual, but not crying like she was Saturday night. 

Last night I was trying clothes on her to decide what to pack (because it's gonna be 90* in Georgia and we haven't gotten out summer clothes here yet) and noticed a rash on her belly. I checked the inside of we clothes and concluded that it must be from the inside stitching on this purple floral top so I decided not to pack that and eventually put her pjs on her. 

This morning, I hadn't even undressed we to change her diaper... I just knew. Her rash was visible on her neck and even her face looked lacy and splotchy. Awesome. 

I thought it was maybe roeola and a quick google search confirmed it. 

What would we do without google?! Bad news, this girl is super fussy and I'm supposed to fly to atlanta today with all three kids by myself for the first time. Good news, she's not contagious. 

Anyway, wish me luck. It's always an adventure! 

Privilege

I don't know what it is, but Elizabeth has a fever and you can tell she's just really struggling. She is completely not herself at all. I went to Susan's annual chocolate social tonight and Christopher was texting me Elizabeth updates. It was killing me to hear that she was having a hard time and it made me want to just drop everything and run home to her. With a difficult baby, I would have felt lucky to have been away on a difficult night, but with Elizabeth, I just wanted to be with her. 

I finally did make it to her, around 11. After staying late at the party, driving super slow on the snowy roads, and then having to shovel my car out (multiple times... I think it took twenty minutes) on my driveway because it kept getting stuck. But I found her, cuddled up and sleeping in Christopher's arms in our bed. It was adorable. I wanted to take a picture but didn't want to startle her awake with the flash so I just picked her up as gently as I could. 

I took her upstairs. Her legs were crazy hot. I undid all of her and let her stretch and cool off before getting her swaddles and everything again. She was calm and sucking on her binky. No smiles or coos. It was almost eerie. I nursed her in he glider and she ate okay for a bit and it just felt so right. Holding her and comforting her. Her poor feverishly burning hot cheek against my chest. But then she started biting me. Like just clenching her teeth down. The first several times I was able to just gently ease my pinky in her mouth to loosen her grip. By the fifth or sixth time, she was getting upset by it and crying. Like actual crying. Which is very unusual for her unless she's hurt. Eventually I gave up on that side and offered her the other. It was like she only wanted to suck ever so slightly so that she didn't have to actually eat. And then she did the biting thing several more times. I put her binky in her hand and she immediately put it in her mouth and closed her eyes. I watched as she semi dozed off and then put her up on my shoulder so she could burp and I think she was still asleep. And then over and over in my head, the thought kept coming to me... "This is such a privledge.  This is such a privledge to take care of her." 

My whole time with her was maybe half an hour, but it was perfect. I know she feels horrible and you can tell she's really struggling and feeling awful, but for me, as her mother, it was one of those amazing and incredible experiences that you just want to bottle up and relive over and over again. 

She is perfection. I love her so much I can't even handle it. She is so slow to ever raise a fuss and her spirit is just so sweet and tender. I always feel so blessed to be her mother and to experience a baby like this, but tonight. Tonight was just extra. To be able to take care of her and hold her and offer comfort to her listless little self. 

It was such a privledge. I am so blessed. 

Thursday

I got Abigail to school on time! Woohoo! 

Brady fell asleep when I was putting Elizabeth down for nap so I got two hours of silent time to just read and think. I like that I can't really be too productive during that time so I feel less guilty about just sitting. 

After we got Abigail from school, we ran home for a few minutes to get snacks and change clothes and then head to the park with friends from Abigail's class. We played til two and the weather was great. 

The kids played outside for a bit and then Presley came over at 2:30 and the kids played inside while I out Elizabeth down at 3. But the kids were playing so great that I just stayed upstairs and sat some more. I love that quiet time in the guest room. If it had its own bathroom I'd be tempted to make it the new master. It's such a great room. 

The kids watched some magic school bus while I put away laundry and didn't make dinner and then they all cleaned up and went outside to play when honey got home and I got Elizabeth up and we joined them. It's a little bit windy, but this little moment we're enjoying in our camp chair is totally worth it. 

Going all day

As usual, honey was gone before any of the rest of us even woke up. 

Becky came over and picked up a shop vac. Because we have two... both free... Never been used by us. So now I only have one more shop vac to give away. ; ) 

I already had both kids buckled in the car when she got here so we left as soon as she was gone. I picked up a few things at Walmart. Mainly diapers (ibotta had &5 off Luvs), milk (we had less than two gallons left), and produce (we were almost all out). We were in and out pretty quick by my standards and had plenty of time to drop off the groceries and be early to get Abigail. 

I made the kids a picnic lunch that they ate in the front yard... pbj, grapes, and Pringles... and they rode their bikes and played. Emma came over to play. She's the neighbor in Abigail's class at school. I have mixed feelings about that friendship and as always, feel uneasy about Abigail spending so much time with a friend. They played for several hours. Outside, inside our house, inside Emma's house, rinse and repeat. Brady loves riding on the john deer gator we inherited from Chris's parents. Poor Elizabeth didn't get a morning nap because we were at Walmart and then she got woken up at 3 from all the loud playing inside. So between 8:30am and 8:30pm, she only got a short two hour nap. And her other top tooth is finally breaking skin (yesterday and today) and I know she's in pain from it. She's such a trooper. 

I vacuumed the whole house (minus the far reaches of the dining room, office, and guest room... If our vacuum cord was just a few feet longer...) and did all the dishes, cleaned all the kitchen counters and table, swept and mopped the kitchen, finally put away the remaining laundry on the guest room bed, and picked up the whole house. And remember, I went grocery shopping too. and even got dressed and did my hair and makeup and read while I sat outside and watched the kids play. When I type it up, I can see that I really was going nonstop and I don't feel so bad that I'm so exhausted right now. 

Kids are so much work. 

I'm an unrelated note (except that it's constantly on my mind)... The kids and I are going to atlanta a week from tomorrow!!!!!  I am soooo excited. This weekend I can start working on my list of stuff I have to do before I leave town and probably lay out clothes and stuff for the kids. Also, I need to make a concentrated effort to get a lot of sleep this week since that's always a struggle anytime I'm in Georgia. Twelve glorious days... It's gonna be amazing. Just gotta keep myself productive until then. 

Also, the weather today was so wonderful. Super hot, then cloudy and cool, then hot, then raining, then cloudy again and raining again. Spring has arrived. ; ) 

Weaning Elizabeth from the swaddle

4.1.15

There comes a time in every babe's life that they need to be weaned from their swaddle. For Elizabeth, that time came earlier this week. I searched the internets and my own blog for tips. I was surprised at how little I could find on my old posts. I remember the process of weaning Abigail from the swaddle but not how long it took or how it affected her sleep. I was really disappointed not to be able to reference that. My 2010 self didn't help my 2016 self like I'd hoped. So, here's my 2016 self hoping to help out my hopefully 2018 and 2020 self. 

Elizabeth sleeps really well swaddled. She just turned ten months earlier this week and I couldn't believe how time flew and also how she barely rolled over while swaddled. She would occasionally roll over swaddled after a nap, but it wasn't a bit deal. Then in a matter of days, she started doing a lot of rolling over in her swaddle while she was trying to fall asleep. 

So Wednesday afternoon, honey had come home early from work and I decided to try Elizabeth napping with one arm out. Honey and the kids went to the basement to play and hang out so I could focus on Elizabeth and watch the monitor and listen for her. 

I spent over an hour periodically going into help her (she didn't cry or scream but would either roll over and get stuck, break out of the swaddle, or just start to yell and fuss). I mainly tried leaving her right arm out and trying to just loosely swaddle both arms in.  Eventually, it was getting late enough that I was worried it would push back her nighttime sleep, so I swaddled both of her arms snugly as usual, gave her a binky (to help her fall asleep super fast and because she was overtired at this point) and watched her on the monitor to make sure she fell asleep on her back. 

When I put her down for bed that night, I did the one arm out again, but left out her left arm (because she is already very right hand dominant) and hoped that would make a difference. I sat in the glider in her room (because I enjoy listening to her fall asleep)... She never fussed, and it took less than ten or twenty minutes for her to fall asleep. So then I peeked at her before I left the room. Umm, she'd falled asleep on her belly. Dangit. I was never worried about Abigail suffocating because she had the unswaddle skills of a tiny Houdini and I never worried about Brady because he was freaking loud so I knew I would hear him. But Elizabeth is quiet and gentle and still hard to hear. Also, she will struggle for a long time before ever making a fuss. And she's physically at about the level of a five month old. So I didn't have a lot of trust that she could keep herself safely away from her crib bumpers and suffocating her face in the mattress. 

So I quickly and quietly and gently turned her into her back and snuck out. I watched on the monitor when I got downstairs and she seemed to be sleeping but then awake for a couple of minutes and then back asleep. Success. She slept all night (I think. My short term memory is horrible) and was fine in the morning. 

Thursday, she didn't get a morning nap because I had to get milk at Walmart , but she napped for a few hours in the early afternoon and did fine with her left arm out. I was nervous about leaving her with a sitter that night but gave him pretty good instructions. He said she only slept for less than an hour (definitely shorter than usual). I didn't ask for details of if he gave her time to settle back down or if he just got her up or if she'd rolled over or anything. 

She was still awake when we got home at 11. I put her to bed around 11:30, left arm out, and she did great and slept all night. Morning nap on Friday was great. She fell asleep quickly and easily, on her back, and slept for over 3 hours.  The best part is that during her awake time before and after sleep, she's staying on her back and not trying to be very mobile. Ideally, I would give this a few more days so she could get really used to the one arm out before we moved to two arms out, but I think I'm gonna be trying two arms out tonight so that I'll have the whole weekend with honey home that I can have the time and focus to work with and monitor Elizabeth. Hopefully by Monday, Elizabeth will be a champion swaddle less sleeper. Thankfully, so far, her sleep hasn't been affected (except for that short nap Thursday night with Parker, but that could have just been a result of her nap schedule being off that day) for naps or nighttime and hopefully that will continue. Also happy that her crib awake time hasn't been affected either. She's still happy to hang out forever until I come get her. 

Crossing my fingers that this weekend goes well... And hopefully I'll remember  to update things as I go. 

Saturday, Elizabeth did well with two arms out. I altered her nap times to fit out conference schedule better. I had her awake from 10-12 while we watched and then put her down after the first session ended. She fell asleep pretty quickly and slept for a good amount of time. Her later nap took a lot longer and involved fussing and a toy and a binky but eventually she fell asleep... At 5:30. I thought I'd wake her up in a bit to eat and whatever before going down for the night... But I got lazy so I didn't. She ended up sleeping until 1am (that's kinda what I was hoping/expecting her to do when Parker babysat on Thursday night)... I fed her, and even though she was super awake and playful, she put herself back to sleep quickly and easily (no binky) and didn't wake up til 6:30 or so. Expected because it had been 13 hours of sleep for her, but I don't get up with my kids before 7, so I fed her and our her to sleep again. She did great... Back to sleep quickly and easily. I was feeling pretty confident about things, but when I put her down for her nap at 12:30 after the first session of conference, she wasn't having it. I don't know if it was because she was overtired  from being awake so long or if she knew what was coming and decided to go ahead and fuss instead of waiting patiently and then falling asleep, but she was noisy and flipping on her belly and just not happy about it. Eventually I gave her a binky and eventually she fell asleep (on her belly). She let out one cry at the 45 minute mark and immediately fell back asleep (not sure that she was actually even awake). But she woke up again a little while later while I was in the shower. Honey gave her a binky and she fell back asleep but then woke up again 20 minutes or so later again so I just got her up. 

Putting her down for her nap after second session wasn't good at all. She wasn't as tired and she was fussing immediately when I left the room. She even quickly worked herself into a hard cry (which she really only does if she's hurt) so I went back and comforted her. I sat in the glider, wondering if it would help her to have me in the room. She alternated between fussing, giggling, and just looking at me (on her belly, looking over the crib bumper). There was a lot of fussing though. Eventually I gave her a binky and then eventually again (riiiiight when I was about to get her out because it was getting so late), she fell asleep (on her belly). It was 5:45 by that point. I let her sleep a little while and then got her up. I fed her for a while in the kitchen and took her upstairs for bed, but because of how the two naps went, I felt like maybe I should back off a bit so I just swaddled one arm and left her left arm out. There was no fussing or crying, lots of giggling, no binky necessary, and she fell asleep within ten minutes... On her belly. So, we'll see how tonight goes. With both arms out, she did well yesterday and pretty bad today. We're not on a deadline so we'll play it slow this week and see how things go. She's always been so easy going that I try to be accommodating of things that are hard for her because it's not like she complains about much. Also, she likes her crib and she likes sleep and it's really important to me that she has good connotations concerning those things. 

So, there's the latest. Hopefully I'll be back soon for more updates. 

The newsies

Thursday morning was taking Abigail to school, taking Brady and Elizabeth with me to Walmart for groceries (I remember now why I don't go grocery shopping with kids... I have no where to put any groceries!), putting Elizabeth down for a nap and having Brady fall asleep at the same time. Luckily LaResa was able to bring Abigail home from school for me. She's so wonderful. Bonus, Abigail and I got some quiet one on one time together. 

Brady ended up sleeping for over three hours. That's definitely his longest nap since he quit his crib last June. He woke up fine instead of super grumpy so that was nice. 

The afternoon was those kids playing while I kept Elizabeth awake and tried to get everything ready for the babysitter. It is a full day process getting everything ready for a babysitter. Annoying but necessary. Parker came over at 5:50 and I still looked the exact same as I did at 9 am. Ugh, so much for getting ready for our date. I threw on a sweater and did minimal makeup in the car on the way to picking up our friends. 

The night was so much fun. So so sooo much fun. We went to see the newsies downtown at the buell and it was really good. I didn't know the story line or most of the songs so it was extra fun to experience it for the first time. I love seeing things at our Parker theater but the buell is just a little more professional. ; ) it was fantastic. Also, our friends were so much fun to hang out with. That couple where all four of us get along great and conversation is never lacking. We've wanted to get together with them for the longest time so this was just great. 

Also, we got home and our babysitter said the kids did great. Elizabeth was awake almost the whole time and Brady had a hard time falling asleep (because of his nap), but all was well. And I laughed out loud that Parker obliged the kids on their request for Christmas music. ; ) 

It was great. 

The joy of less

That's the book I've been reading and I'm loving it. I read some conference talk or maybe it was at a church meeting or something... I can't remember... But the phrase was "knowledge with out action is just education."  I'm better at reading about something than actually doing it. Like crafts or recipes or cleaning. I've been trying to make that phrase my temporary mantra (until it becomes more of a habit) and it's going well. I've been reading the joy of less (far better than the life hanging magic of tidying up) and am loving it. It is motivating and inspiring and it just makes sense, even to my hoarding heart. I am really good at organizing, but too frequently, I've been reaching points of exhaustion because there is just so much stuff. Or it's stuff I don't like that I'm always having to look at and feel guilty that I don't use. Or it's stuff that just can't be organized (because it serves no purpose and has no reason to be in my home) and even I can't come up with an organized solution for it. This book is really helping. It's helped me realize that I'm more of a minimalist than I would have previously thought (I like my home to be pretty minimal, even if I end up stashing all of the junk and extras in the basement) and that I just need to build on that. I'm barely scratching the surface but I really like where it's going. 

Also, I'm still not sure where it came from, but I still have a lot of motivation and energy to my days... Even when I wake up tired or with a headache. I am so amazingly thankful for this. My time is spent being euphoric about it and also being scared that it is only temporary. Part of me wonders if it is connected to my lack of facebook though. I still haven't been on facebook. I think it's been over six weeks. I'm still scared of relapsing but I can't deny how much happier I am to be done of it. My thoughts are focused and positive. I feel better about myself and those around me. I feel soooo much more in control of my life. I've been reading so much more (even if a lot of it is just articles online) and I love it. When I sit down, I don't scroll though people's posts and political crap, I think of anything... ANYTHING!... And then I can google it. Random facts, a better way to do something I've been struggling with, and a lot of inspirational stories and tips on minimalism. Not like I'm ever really going to be a minimalist, but I'm all for applying those principles to my own life to achieve more focus and simplicity. I've had more patience with my kids (goodness knows I still need a ton more though) and more motivation to be a better wife and mother. It's been about ten days since I started providing "enough food" (that's how I phrase it for me) for my family and it has reduced a tremendous amount of guilt from my everyday life. I have so much enthusiasm for becoming the person I want to be. I don't know how long this will last (I wish forever... HA) and I'm worried it'll derail while I'm getting ready for my trip to Georgia next month and while I'm gone and when I'm getting home and recovering and then again ten days later when I take a little trip with my honey. And then it'll be summer and then lots more traveling. So, I'm just going as best I can right now. 

I have no social media connections right now (I have accounts with facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest but don't use them) so this blog is the closest I have to that... Which is likely why it just hasn't really been on my mind lately. But I just wanted to pop in and say that life has been really really really really good. I have been super happy. Abigail and Brady are doing great. Elizabeth is getting teeth and I'm working to wean her from the swaddle (tonight she feel asleep for the first time with one arm out... And no binky or crying involved!). Honey has been spending more time at home and it has been so nice to have him around more. 

My heart is full of gratitude. I am just so thankful. 

Inspiring reading

I've been spending too much time lately reading about minimalism. I'm definitely a wannabe minimalist. My main problem is that I'm kind of a hoarder. I hate throwing stuff away, but insecurities (and the hassle of it all) prevent me from giving stuff away or finding a new home for it. But lately, I've really been focusing a lot of time on trying to figure out a way that I can more in a more simple direction.  It's my hyper focus at the moment. And I'm not sure if it's that or just coincidence, but I've had a lot more days of motivation  than I usually do. Those days always feel so good. 

I woke up and showered before the kids got ready. Bonus points that I dressed all of us in green (Abigail even had a gold bow) and gave Abigail a green snack (snap pea crisps). Last night I even put gold glitter in her leprechaun trap and this morning she was a little bit disappointed not to catch one, but pretty excited that he left a trail of gold dust. I'm not a super fun Pinterest mom, but I am trying to make little things a bit more fun (like how Abigail would have already had that green snack anyway). I also made it a point later that they were eating a green pear and using green spoons for their spaghetti. They also got green Easter egg cups, and when they weren't looking, I put a bit of green soap (I was cleaning out the reminder of the dish soap bottle and put it in the foaming dispenser) in the downstairs bathroom and Abigail thought it was so sneaky that the leprechaun turned our soap green but he wasn't that tricky because we know that it's him who did it. I've been really enjoying that girl lately and it feels really good. 

Today I did all the kid laundry start to finish. That used to be the norm for me, but these days, something always gets in the way of folding and putting it away. Not today though! 

After school, the kids and I ate eggs on toast for the first time in several days. It was delicious. Then Abigail colored forever in her sticker book and Brady and Elizabeth and I played in the playroom and threw the basketballs in the hoop at the same time. Abigail used her gold glitter to decorate her coloring pages and then counted out 20 of them and put them in her backpack to take them to each of her classmates tomorrow. I didn't want to squash her plan (and how well she is executing it), but I do wonder how annoyed her teacher will be and how this'll play out tomorrow. ; ) 

As a result of my minimalism reading, I'm going around my house and questioning all the spaces that aren't really working for me and it feels really good. Those cabinets that are annoyingly full of stuff so I can't fit anything else, but I only use one or two small things from there. It's amazing how full things are when they actually only contain a handful of things I regularly use or need. So the other day I did the drawer that holds my brush, straightener, curling wand, and blow dryer and finally removed that old brush that Abigail bit and broke, a diffuser I never ever use, and two old curling irons that don't work well on my hair. Today, I went through the drawer under the ovens, and both huge sections under our kitchen island. I also semi tackled our hotel soaps and a few other odds and ends (like condensing Vaseline... why does it come in tubs that just don't make sense?!). Presley came over again to play for a few hours which was great because the kids play better when she's here. They're all happy, they don't care about watching a movie, and they're better behaved to each other because I've told them how Presley gets so easily upset by contention. The day just went really well and tonight wasn't rushed at all getting ready for bed. Honey went to the march madness games today and got home around midnight and since I was organizing in the kitchen, I was actually awake when he got here! 

Anyway, it was a good day. But aside from any of the things I've listed, really it was just that I felt happy. I didn't have an overwhelming headache or backache or fatigue or laziness or impatience at my children. I had motivation and excitement for doing my everyday things and was able to maintain a standard that made me happy. Crossing my fingers for another day like this tomorrow. ; ) 

And as a random note... Elizabeth is still sick. It's like a super mild version of the croup that Brady had in panama. Hopefully she feels better soon. In the meantime, she's super restless while she sleeps and moves all over her crib. Which makes me nervous because she's fully swaddled still and already congested. So now I'm one of those parents that's paranoid about my kid suffocating in a crib bumper while she sleeps. On a happy note though, she's still "sleeping through the night" even though she's waking up all the time and squirming around in her crib. Maybe I could get some sleep if I wasn't spending all my time watching her on the monitor. ; )

The yucky part

I bought these little chobani Greek yogurt cups last time I was at costco because they were on sale. 

Abigail likes to stir hers up (the fruit is on the bottom and the plain yogurt is on the top) and eat it. Props to her for doing something the standard way for once. ; )

Brady likes to use a tiny baby spoon and take itty bitty bites, stopping conpletely when he sees "the yucky part."  I've explained to him that that's actually the yummy fruit part (let's be honest, plain Greek yogurt tastes gross and chalky and is the real "yucky part"), but he will not be persuaded.

That kid. 

Our Saturday soccer walk

Honey had to go into work this morning to interview someone, so he didn't get home til 11:30. The kids had left out all their toys the night before (that's what happens when I'm not the one to put them to bed) and I have a general rule that I don't clean up toys, so it was all still out this morning. Brady had been poking me in the face and talking to me earlier but he went away when I told him I was still sleeping. I can't remember if that was before or after my dream about being on the bachelor and being in love with Ben Higgins. I've been having so many weird dreams lately. So I finally woke up at 8:45 to the kids asking me if they could watch a show. "Yes! You may!" Just clean up all the toys in the house and pick out what you want to watch!  I'll lay here until you're done..."  ; )  They did a great job. And they chose magic school bus. I love that they love that show. It was one of my favorites as a kid and it's super educational about really great stuff like how plants grow and where eggs come from and what's in the ocean and other basic things that just don't occur to me to explain to my children in depth. 

So when honey came home at 11:30 after a morning at the office, all four of us were sitting in a row at the table (well Elizabeth was in her high chair at the end of the table) eating cereal (Elizabeth had cherrios) in our pajamas. It was wonderful. We all got dressed and walked to the nearby soccer park to watch some kid games and hang out and play on the playground. I put Elizabeth down for a nap by two and showered. Chris played outside with the kids and then fed and bathed them. It was so sad for me to have to wake Elizabeth up at 4:45 again. I didn't have her nap this morning because I forgot... Oops... and she's just been putting up with a whole lotta sleep deprivation lately. Sorry sweet girl. 

We all got in the car and picked up pizza and went to the hanlins to watch the avs game. They had pigs in a blanket and salad and I ate til I was stuffed. I love hanging out with Becky. I also love looking at all her furniture. She's so crafty   Everything is unique and has been painted or reupholstered or somehow been made pretty and special by her. I need her to teach me how to do something simple. Like paint a picture frame. ; ) 

The avs blew it... As they are prone to do. We went to the avs game last Saturday with the kids... And the Saturday before was the outdoor game at coors field I think. And this one we watched with the Hanlins. All three games, the avs play great the first half and are a goal or two ahead. And then they just start slacking and the other team comes from behind. We'll see if they can manage to get to the playoffs. Brady and Abigail had such a fun time playing with Mia and Becky made brownies with cookie dough on top, so despite the loss, we all had a great time. 

It's hard for me to wrap my head around the happy phases and rough slumps I go through with my moods, but I'm grateful right now to be in one of those happy and motivated stages. And I'm thankful tomorrow is Sunday. It's gonna be great. 

Spring is around the corner

Friday was good. I woke up feeling like I had a hangover. I'd only gotten like two or three hours of sleep... Interrupted because Elizabeth woke up sometime in there... Because my phone was on the verge of crashing from having zero memory so I spent hours backing stuff up and clearing memory. I'm sure it's a quicker job than that but I'm not super tech savvy so it took me a while. Anyway, moving my head was horrific. But I got Abigail to school, was productive while she was gone, and even had Brady and myself dressed when it came time to pick her up. 

I popped some alieve finally and we all went to a park around one. The weather was almost perfect. A tad on the hot side, but really, it was great. We stayed for 2.5 hours. Even then, we only left because I had to drop three things back by the library and wanted to have time to make dinner for Christopher who was having a difficult day at work. It was just great and I was enjoying the spring weather until I saw a spider keep crossing the sidewalk. I like a lot of things about winter like hot chocolate and watching the pretty snow fall, but my all time very favorite part of winter is that I never ever see spiders. So, for that reason, I kinda dread spring and summer... but I'm trying to be a little better about it this year. Pray for me and maybe I can skip being jumpy and breaking out into a full body sweat every time I see a dark piece of lint on the floor. While we were at the playground, Jodi called me back and we talked for over half an hour. I seriously never ever see or talk to her anymore and that simple phone call made me feel so much better. Also, by the time I got off the phone with her, my headache was nearly gone. 

I ran those things by the library and Brady and Elizabeth both fell asleep on the way home. Abigail and I walked to the mailbox together. My new watch came!  Woohoo!  We just cancelled our Amazon prime and this is the first thing I've ordered since then. All I kept thinking was "this sure isn't two day shipping anymore" just like how Dorothy says her comment about "this sure isn't Kansas."  It took an entire week but it's okay. It's so pretty. Now I just need to take it in to get sized and my wrist can have a real watch again instead of the Fitbit I've been using! I made spaghetti pie (well, from the freezer) and zucchini and garlic bread .  I know most people probably make dinner every night, but I don't. So this dinner made me feel very accomplished. It was also delicious so I sat down and ate with the family even though I should have taken Elizabeth up to bed. During dinner, when honey had only been home maybe 15 minutes, Elizabeth was yelling and fussing and he was all "what is her deal tonight?!?!" Well, it was because she'd been awake for 9 hours with the exception of a ten minute nap in her car seat (Brady woke her up because he wanted to play with her, ugh) and she was so insanely tired. But it was so perfect. That's the best way to describe how always happy she is. When she fusses and our reaction is "holy cow, what is her deal?!?!" because it's so uncharacteristic of her. 

So, the day started horribly and thankfully got better. I'm gonna remember this for the next time I wake up with a throbbing head. It'll give me hope. ; ) 

Let's celebrate!

I think I'm a lazier person than most. What I accomplish on a daily basis is almost always disappointing to me. But today, I felt pretty satisfied with everything. So let's take a moment to celebrate this success!  Also, let's pretend I do this stuff allll the time. 

This morning I woke up on my own around 7:30. Because I'd gone to bed at 9:30 and only woken up once (with Elizabeth at 10:30 since I'd put her to bed at 6pm) in there. Brady and Abigail got ready 99% on their own and ate breakfast great. Elizabeth was awake in her crib when I woke up and was her usual adorable self all morning. She hung out in her high chair during breakfast... All three kids at that end of the table. It was precious. I curled Abigail's hair before school (this is now my favorite thing to do because it is the quickest and easiest way to 100% disguise the crazy bed heads she wakes up with each morning. I used to have to wet it completely and try to brush it straight. Now I can just break it in sections to wrap about my wand for a few seconds and were good to go. Also, she looks amazing with her hair curled. At least I think so. It's seriously the cutest thing ever even though it's just a few relaxed curls. And she's a good sport about it. She looked precious today although I think she's such a cute kid in general. She wore her ripped old navy jeans, that navy blue flower shirt I got her at kohls (I always love when she actually likes any item of clothing that I've picked out), her pink fleece, and brown riding boots. Maybe that's why I loved her outfit... I actually purchased everything she wore... Right down to her socks and undies. That makes me smile. 

When we got home, Elizabeth fed herself a bottle (I'd had to pump when she woke up because she only ate one side) in her car seat while I hurried to make some banana muffins. I'm cleaning out my freezer and this was the last of my frozen bananas. Woohoo! Brady was kinda whiny (maybe it's because he's still feeling a bit sick but yikes, the boy whines like it's his job) but I didn't let it really bother me. I swept and cleaned up and put away groceries (from seriously two days ago because I suck) and got dressed and even curled my hair and put on mascara. Elizabeth woke up and we got Abigail from school. 

I gave Elizabeth some applesauce and the kids ate the rest of their oatmeal and cuties and apple and some banana muffins and gathered some books and movies and we hit up the library for a bit. The library is my happy place. When we go, we return a big stack of books and then I send the kids to play on the game computers while I filled Elizabeth's stroller with tons of new books. Then I grab a couple of DVDs they might like (today was a magic school bus) and plop myself on the little bench to do whatever I want on my phone for however long I want. Because all three kids are quiet and content. Today we also read some board books before checking everything out and heading home. And I even finally paid for the little baseball board book that we lost a few months ago (and I've just been renewing). I've never lost a library book before, but luckily this one was only $8 and they said they would refund my money if I ever found it and brought it back. Sweet. 

When we got home, the kids did their things and picked a Dora show to watch. Right now, I love having the kids watch something around 4 o clock. I can get them to do anything I want before they get to watch a show (clean up all their toys and stuff) and it gives me time to make dinner (which I rarely do) or recharge my patience (which is typically necessary)... Today I used Mexican chicken (from the freezer cleanout) to make a few pans of chicken enchiladas. One went in the oven for dinner. Two went to the freezer. I think cooking is such a pain because I'm so easily distracted and it's stressful for me, but these enchiladas are really super easy so it makes me feel all domestic when it's such a breeze to throw together. 

We got a bunch of produce at sprouts yesterday (I think it was only my second time shopping there, ever.  But I'm redoing the way that I shop now that Walmart is changing their policies and is basically a huge pain) so the kids had an apple and cuties before dinner and then ate enchiladas and mango and avocado and Abigail had some tomato as well. 

Honey got home (with a headache) and we had a fun conversation about how eating healthy foods is annoying because fruits and vegetables typically don't keep you full long at all. Honey ate lunch at 12:30 and said he was starved by 1. I told him he needed to eat some protein for lunch to keep him full a little longer. ; ) 

I put Abigail and Brady to bed except that honey read them scriptures while I got Elizabeth up and nursed her. The kids did well and I did really well being their mom. We read books and really just took our time. It was quiet and enjoyable. I didn't focus on the clock and getting them to bed on time... Just on doing our things. I didn't tell them goodnight til 8:30, but it's okay. I feel good about it. I fed Elizabeth the leftover avocado and tomato and she loved it. And she hung out with me while I ate and cleaned up and it was just great. I didn't get her to bed til maybe 10, but once again, I ignored the clock and just did my thing. Everyone else was asleep and it was so great to get that one on one time with her. I even gave her a little haircut. Even if it was just one snip of about a quarter inch from five hairs. ; ) 

So, my house is all picked up, my dishwasher is humming away, everyone is fast asleep, and I fed my family and kept my patience all day long. I even looked decent while doing it!  Can we pretend that I do this every day? Because that would be amazing. 

Elizabeth at 9.5 months

Elizabeth really is the best. She's as easy as Abigail was, but about fifty times happier. Abigail was really content. Elizabeth is just giddy about life. She smiles and laughs and just flails her arms with excitement.  She is a delight through and through. 

I didn't put her down for her second nap today until after four because we were at the library. So Elizabeth woke up while I was putting the kids to bed. It was just as I'd hoped. So I got her out of her crib and she sat and hung out with us while we read and just took some time to unwind. We are all just sweeter to each other when she is present. Also, she's so adorable to look at. Especially when she is so patiently accepting all of Brady's hugs and kisses. The kids love her so much. We all do. It's impossible not to. 

So after we said goodnight to the kids, I took Elizabeth to the kitchen to give her solids. I still suck at doing this but today was better. Tonight I fed her Brady's leftover avocado from dinner, Abigail's leftover tomato, and a little bit of mango, leftover on the cutting board. ; ) She loved it. Who would have known she would love tomato so much! She really is a little Abigail. Abigail's very favorite food at 12 months was tomato and it seems to be one of Elizabeth's favorites too judging how she took to it tonight. She also seemed to really like the avocado. She started out as a pretty finicky eater but she's really seeming to be branching out these days. She also had some puffs and cherrios. I don't think she was hungry still after all the avocado and half a tomato, but I was enjoying her company while I finished dishes and tidied up the kitchen. 

Seriously, her presence is just a gift. I kept thinking about that tonight. Everyone else was asleep. I'd put the kids to bed and honey was already asleep because he'd had a headache and put himself to bed. So it was just the two of us hanging out in the kitchen. I fed her, I had some oatmeal, and I just talked to her while I did a ton of dishes. If that had been me and baby Brady, I would have felt butter and resentful of Christopher that he was passed out in bed while I was up til 10pm caring for our child (who would have been fine if I'd just nursed her and put her back to bed instead of getting her up to read books with the kids and me) and cleaning up dishes and dinner and the kitchen. But I wasn't. I was happy and cooing (along with Elizabeth) and just completely happy with that special alone time with her. Because that's how it is with her.  Better. Everything is better with Elizabeth. 

And because I suck at writing monthly posts, here's the random specifics...  Elizabeth is wearing size two diapers, 6-12 month clothing, taking two naps (roughly 10-12 and 2-4:30... Give or take), waking up once a night, mostly nursing and eating baby food once or twice a day if I remember, great at feeding herself a bottle, sitting up and rolling over still, but not at all mobile and not even showing signs of rocking on all fours, army crawling, or pulling up on anything. HALLELUJAH! 

She is my perfect little pet rock. That happens to smile and laugh all the time. I couldn't love her more. My mouth literally hurts from smiling when I'm around her and my heart is bursting. I feel so privledged to be able to experience her. 

Elizabeth, you are perfection. 

Random thoughts from halfway through the week

Today was good. 

I got Abigail to school late, but I did fix the button on her favorite pink coat and help her write in mr. Bear's journal... And we were calm and on good terms. 

Brady took a nap, so I put Elizabeth to sleep as soon as I could and they overlapped for an hour or so. I read in the red chair in the sun. I think I'm maybe on page 9 of Jesus the Christ. I'm getting nowhere fast. 

The kids had their first taste today of the magic school bus and they liked it and learned a bit. I loved magic school bus books as a kid. I thought they were sooo cool. 

Elizabeth is crazy. She can't stand vegetables (although I think I'm making progress on the non-green ones like carrots and sweet potato) but was loving grapefruit tonight. Honey was eating one and we thought it would be fun to give her a taste to see how she would handle the sour and we could laugh at her sour pucker face. Not the case. It was like we were feeding her applesauce or something. So she actually ate several wedges (that I cut small for her and fed her with a spoon) and I was able to use the juice to mix with carrots to get her to eat that. Ha. Also, for reference for my future children... I'm having luck easing into veggies by adding applesauce to peas (or whatever she doesn't like) and feeding her that. Then with a few bites left, I mix in more peas to the current mixture. And then again when there's only a few bites left. So by the end, she's pretty much eating straight peas. Tonight I did it with carrots and it was pretty flawless. Green veggies are harder because she dislikes them more, but it still works. My other kids had more issue with texture (only liked jarred purées, not mashed or cut up stuff) than taste so this is pretty new to me. 

Abigail and I had a good day today. We talked, read books, she played with Brady... It was nice. She brought home a cat in the hat, hat that she made that had rhyming words on it. So I had her write out the alphabet and ad "at" to all the letters and then put a sit next to the ones that made real words. I'm kinda sucky at explaining why "eat" and "oat" don't rhyme with the other real words like sat, may, fat, pat, etc. Is there a better explaination than "sometimes words are tricky..."  

Brady loves giving Elizabeth kisses (and me and chris actually too) and is always "I need to smooch Elizabeth" or "ummm, I need to give Elizabeth five kisses" and then counts them out. It's adorable. He's been kinda passive aggressive though lately and acting more crazy and babyish. Not sure if it's a phase or what, but the pro of it is that I can point it out to Abigail and she sees it from the outside perspective and it helps her to be more mature. So they're not seeming like twins anymore lately and that's alright. Even if Brady might drive me crazy sometimes I feel like I have Abigail on my side. 

I sure love my honey. Tonight, our whole family was just great together. This afternoon, Abigail asked if it was almost nighttime. "Not really... Would you like it to be nighttime already?" "Yes! Because I want to see daddy!!!" The kids built a fort to hide in (with zero prompting from me) and it reminded me of the can't-be-more-obvious hiding places I would think of for my dad to find me when he got home from work. It was serious déjà vu. 

Elizabeth is the easiest, most smiley, constantly laughing baby ever. She cries when she's hurt and that's basically it. A typical day involves less than 20 seconds of crying (if that). Today was me accidentally bonking her face when I was reaching for something I think. I can't remember, but Brady immediately turned to me (kinda angrily... because like I said, he's got an attitude now) and, stern faced and completely serious was all "*you* did that."  Sadly, yes. 

Also, I collected visiting teaching reports. I got rid of traditional districts reporting to supervisors and had everyone report straight to me. And I collect the rest. It's so much easier. I seriously love my calling. 

I put a tall mug of milk on my nightstand each night before I go to bed. When I wake up during the night (normally for Elizabeth), then I chug the glass of milk and go nurse her. It is the most delicious ten seconds of my day. I can't even describe it, but every time is amazing beyond words. It gives me the best motivation of hop out of bed no matter how tired I am. 

Speaking of which... I guess I'm so good at staying half asleep when I get up with Elizabeth that sometimes my Fitbit just thinks that I'm restless. Yes, Fitbit, I went 80 steps and up a flight of stairs but I'm not fully awake... Just call me "restless." Most of the time it's really accurate. But a time or two (like last night) it hasn't been and I thought it was pretty funny. 

I'm going to Georgia next month for my grandmother's birthday. I think about it every day. Granny is also super excited. I talked to her on the phone the other day and she was so excited that she turned to my mom all "Kay! Carrie said she's going to call me on my birthday!!!" Even while I'm yelling into the phone "NO GRANNY. I'M GOING TO BE THERE WITH YOU ON YOUR BIRTHDAY. WE ALREADY HAVE PLANE TICKETS."  But she's still stuck on that phone call. I'm telling myself it's because she's just thrilled. Hopefully she's not disappointed. 

We're having so much spring weather that I keep forgetting its winter. Abigail is also confused about it. Brady knows it's winter and is oblivious to the fact that it feels like spring. When I'm parking in the garage he's always saying "mom, when I get unbuckled, can I shovel the driveway?"  No Brady. There's no snow.  "Whhhhyyyy mom?!  Why is there no snow on the driveway????"  Also, I still loooove when he says stuff like "last day" instead of yesterday or whatever. It makes sense I guess when we say "last month" and "last week" that we should say "last day" but it never occurred to me before Brady made it a regular phrase. Also. I need to make muffins. For no other reason than that I love to hear him ask for "nuffins."  

I've enjoyed this season of the bachelor and I couldn't figure out why because it's more boring than most. Then I realized it's because I think the guy and his two finalist girls are actually normal and likeable. And because I like boring stuff. Don't get me too emotionally invested. I don't enjoy that. 

Is anyone else still going crazy that Bernie sanders won multiple states last night?!?!  Including Colorado. Of course. Because Colorado just votes like that. First weed, then Bernie sanders. With other stuff in the middle. I swear, I meet people when I'm traveling and it's only drama the stuff they hear about Colorado in the news. We can't appear to be normal state or anything close to it. 

And I think that's a wrap. I'm definitely not going to be meeting my sleep goal tonight...

Elizabeth loves green beans!

Just kidding. She doesn't. She still hates all vegetables. 

We'll keep working on it though.