This week in Pictures

Delaney is giving me "Angry Eyebrows"!

Callie wanted to take a picture of me and Rylee. You can't see it, but this is Rylee's adorable "Hungry Caterpillar" outfit.

Dan has a Thanksgiving tradition where there is a decorated cup at each plate at the table and it has candy/fruit/nuts in it. They go around the table and each person takes out their edible goodies and as they eat each piece, they say one thing that they are thankful for for each piece of fruit/nut/candy. Dan printed out the pictures for the cups and he and the kids decorated them together.

Unfortunately, Dan let Delaney have free reign with the scissors and she cut up half their pictures. But she had a darn good time! All the kids seemed to really enjoy it a lot. They were very proud of their work and all the cups were very cute.

The cats were the girls' favorite part of Thanksgiving at Dan's cousin's house. The cats were very good about being played with, and they ran off when it was too much. Marian did get a good lesson in hissing though and now both Callie and Marian will hiss when dissatisfied.

Dan's cousin had some wonderful toys that the kids had a great time playing with.

And Dinner.... ahhhhh, dinner! Here's my little glutton with his turkey leg. He did eat the whole thing. We got the other one as leftovers and Joshua was upset that I let Marian eat it.

Pie! Glorious Pie!

Last night was the BYU football game. I was a thoughtful wife and let Dan listen to it while I put the little girls to bed. Usually that's his job. I guess it was noteworthy enough for him to need to document bedtime reading with a picture!

My sweet littlest ones.

After Thanksgiving Thankfulness

We did have a fabulous Thanksgiving. We drove an hour and a half to spend it with Dan's cousin and her husband.  She did all the cooking and I felt a bit guilty that she slaved so hard while I brought pies and sat there and held Rylee.  Dinner was beyond delicious and there was plenty.  Joshua managed to eat the entire turkey leg, plus most of the other stuff he'd piled on his plate.  They all had room for pie.  

It was nice to not have far to travel.  It was wonderful to enjoy excellent food with good company.  It was great to not have to cook and to still get lots of yummy leftovers.  I love Dan's cousin!

Unfortunately, towards the evening, I realized I was coming down with something.  I had a terrible headache on the way home, which was not helped by a crying Rylee.  (An hour seems to be her limit in the car.)  Thursday night was a rotten one. I had a fever and sore joints.  My throat hurt and my head hurt.  I couldn't sleep because it hurt to swallow and it hurt to roll over, and it was just a miserable night for me.  

I woke up yesterday feeling horrible.  Fortunately, I got to wake up at 9am.  Dan got up with the kids.  When I staggered downstairs, Dan was serving them all french toast.  Dan had picked up the livingroom, put dishes away and cleaned the kitchen.  What a fantastic man I have!   

I was able to take 2 naps and I pretty much did nothing all day.  Dan kept an eye on the kids, did Marian's hair, and he even fed them dinner during my evening nappy-poo. I think he raked leaves as well, but I wan't really paying attention to the world around me.  

In the afternoon when the kids were getting restless, I pulled out the game Blokus, which is one of the few kid-friendly games we have.  I played with Joshua and Callie and then let the kids play alone.  It eventually deteriorated to just Callie and Delaney playing.  I was feeding Rylee and I overheard Callie exclaim, "I'm having so much fun with my best friend playing!"   That just melted my heart!  I love that my little girls have been playing together so happily lately.  I love that Callie and Delaney are becoming best friends.  The kids have done really well the last few days with all of them home.  

Today I am much better.  No fever, no horrible headache.  Nothing but a residual sore throat thats a hundred times better than it was yesterday.  (I'm so thankful for my essential oils for helping to kick that!)

So, I am thankful for a wonderful husband. I am thankful that he is a great dad.  I am thankful for children who have been getting along really well.  I am thankful for family.  I am especailly thankful for Dan's cousin!  I am thankful for tasty dinners and yummy leftovers.  I am thankful to be healthy today.  I am thankful to have parents serving a mission in Kenya.  I am thankful to have neat siblings who I love.  I am truly grateful to have marvelous in-laws who I love.  I am thankful that I could go to a baptism this morning.  I am thankful that Rylee has discovered her thumb and is sleeping 4-5 hours at night now.  I am thankful for pie and for turkey sandwiches.

I better stop, but I have a lot to be grateful for.

Fun at the Gynecologist

This may be TMI, if the title didn't already give you that impression.  

Up till now, my most memorable girl-doctor visit was the one where they left me in the freezing cold room for a really, really long time.  Long enough that I used their phone to call Miranda, who still laughs about me telling her "I'm cold and I'm naked!"   Today was only slightly amusing.  More so if it hadn't been me!

Today I got to go in for my 6 week check up.  Yes, it was well past 6 weeks, but I was able to make back-to-back appointments  (for 3 and 3:30) with Rylee for her 2 month check up.  I was told I would have to arrive early enough to pee in a cup so they could make sure I wasn't pregnant.  Never mind that if I were, it would be too soon to pick it up anyway.  I was suppose to go to the pharmacy and pick up the IUD as well.   Fortunately I was spared that, but good grief!  It can be up to an hour wait at the lab and another hour at the pharmacy, so I had to be prepared for that.  So I was early.  Quite early.

There was a note on the door of Family Practice saying that due to a water main break, there was an issue with the steam and thus some areas of the hospital would be too cold, and others would be too warm.  I got the too warm area.

Rylee and I quietly perspired in the waiting room a bit then got to go to the room.  I was sweating so badly in that small enclosed space.  And I had to wait another 30 minutes.  Once the doctor came in we chatted, made sure I was there for the IUD, yes I understood the risks, and yes I wanted the Paraguard not the Mirena, and all that.  She left, I got undressed and waited for her to come back, while reveling in the cooler air down there. This was the first time ever, that I was so ready to get undressed! It was at this point in time that Rylee woke up.  

The doctor (who I really like) came back in.  Since Rylee was suddenly starving, the doctor left so I could feed the baby.  A bit awkward, since I was pantsless, draped in a sheet, sitting on the exam table.  Rylee ate and proceeded to poop through her diaper and all over her very cute Hungry Caterpillar outfit.   Ug.  What do you do?  I had a icky baby, no pants on, and I was in a room where the doctor could come back any second.  So I changed her, pantslessly (hee hee hee, I made up a word!).  Then we hung out and I made faces at her and gushed sweat.

The doctor came back and brought a nurse.  I put Rylee down and got as comfortable as one can, and Rylee immediately began to wail.  She howled through pretty much all of it.  The nurse picked her up once her duties involving her hands were done, but it was no picnic.  Not like its a picnic anyway.  Or maybe a picnic where you have to sit on pokey rocks and its pouring rain and you are eating dog poop.  It might be like that kind of a picnic....

It was then 4:15.  The lovely nurse took Rylee out to be weighed and measured while I got dressed.  That's why I'm not sure how big she is.  She was 11 pounds something.  I'm not sure what.  She's healthy and fabulous, with a bit of crusty ears and eczema on her neck.

I got home about 5pm.  Fun times.

PS  What would YOU pay a babysitter who came over for 2 hours and 45 minutes and only watched one child who slept for 1.5 of those hours?

The Perks of having kids!

Having children around can make for a lot of work.  They are time consuming and make a lot of messes.  It is quite fortunate that they also make me laugh.  They bring joy and sunshine to my otherwise mundane life.  Let me show you some examples.

I got to have lunch with the cutest pilgrim last week!  I don't know why, but she kept telling me she was embarrassed to be wearing her adorable costume.  She was too cute for words!

Marian just lost her second top tooth!  It was slightly traumatic, as it involved her toast and bleeding. Oh, and the Tooth Fairly forgot to come last night.

This kid won't let me get a nice candid shot.  His variety of silly faces and attempts at the ridiculous keeps things interesting.  His seriousness at the Scouting philosophy melts my heart.  When he does something helpful and tells me he did it because that's what a good scout would do, I think that just maybe its all worth it!

This cutie-pie has some very original ideas.  This yarn "necklace", for example.  She had some very strong feelings for it.  She did wear it in her bath, and now she is looking clean and damp from said bath.

Someone is not happy. She makes a very handy excuse when the telemarketers call though!  And she really only does this now when she's starving or really tired and ready to sleep. And yes, I attribute it to the chiropractor!

I  love the variety of expressions here.  We have Joshua and his silly face.  Marian and her "I don't care" face.  And then there is a naked Callie, wrapped in a blanket, looking very cranky. Its true, life is never dull at our house!

We had to try out the Bumpo and see if Rylee is big enough for it.  The answer is, just barely!

She looks so cute and happy, but she's definitely listing to the side!

Here's what happens when I want to try to get a group shot!  They are all cute and funny, but it doesn't make for a great group shot!

These are intentional silly faces!  Honest!  Hee hee hee!

Ah, more like it!  Do we possibly have a cute picture where you can see each child's face?  Are they all smiling? Are they all presentable?  Good enough!

Check on all 3 criteria!  Faces, smiles, presentation... its all there!  Its why I love being a mom!

Napping

I just like this picture....

When Dan comes home from work, he usually asks if I got a nap that day.  I know he's asking to get a feel for how well rested I might be, and how crabby I may be.  The problem is that I might say I only got a short nap or no nap, but Rylee took a 2 or 3 hour nap.  Dan cannot understand why I didn't also sleep for 2-3 hours.  Let me tell you why not!

Say Rylee falls asleep at 1:30.  I put her in her bed at 1:45.  Then I have to hunt down Delaney.  I'll have to change her diaper and get her upstairs.  I'll have to sing her some songs and tuck her in.  By then it is well after 2 o'clock.  I will realize I never had any lunch because I was busy dealing with a baby who was demanding attention and a toddler who was also demanding attention.  So I will go make a sandwich and sit down to eat it.   I'll notice that the sink is full of dishes when I put my things away, so I will load the dishwasher.  Suddenly I'll remember I had laundry in the washer and I'll have to run downstairs to change that over.  And while I'm down there, I may as well start another load, because the laundry NEVER ENDS!

Finally I'll get headed towards bed.  Then Callie will ask for a movie.  I'll have to help her select a movie that she's happy with, and she's already seen everything we have at least twice and right now she hates all of them. Thank goodness for Netflix and the watch-it-now selection!  I'll get her squared away and the phone will ring and I'll have to deal with a telemarketer.  Once I'm done with that, I'll get upstairs and discover we are about out of toilet paper.  Knowing it will be very bad if we do run out, I go get some more from the basement while I'm thinking about it.  At last, I'll get up to bed.  I may get to lie down before Rylee wakes up or the kids get home from school.  Once the kids get home, I can occasionally stay in bed, but not really sleep.  Someone will come in and ask what's for snack.  Then they'll ask if they can go to a friend's house.  Then they'll tell me that the mail came, or that Callie was teasing them, or what movie can they watch.....

Anyway, THAT is why I may not have gotten a nap today!