Silliness

We had a rough day yesterday. 2 of the 3 kids with bedtimes were sent to bed early.

Hopefully today will be better.

With that hope, I'm starting the day off with a bit of silliness. Laughter really is the best medicine.

What Day is Today?

Last weekend I watched my sister's two boys for a couple days. Talk about busy! I was EXHAUSTED after they went home. For 2 days I had kids aged:

2 months, 2 yrs, (nearly) 5, 6, (nearly) 7, 11

Thankfully my cousin Emily came to help around dinnertime on Friday and John didn't work on Saturday, so he was around for most of the day, too. It was still
C-R-A-Z-Y! There's no way I could keep up with all of those kids all the time. Someone was always calling for me, needing something, getting hurt, etc. It was nuts, man. Makes my life with 4 kids seem pretty calm!

On Friday I packed all six kids up in my car (yup, we all fit...kinda looked like sardines back there, but at least I knew they weren't going anywhere) to go to lunch at my grandma's. All was well until I told the kids to start cleaning up so we could leave. (Maybe it's just my family, but most of our accidents seem to happen when we are leaving somewhere. Why is that??) While they were out in the garage supposedly cleaning (my grandma's garage is the playroom) I heard *THUNK* followed by much screaming. Emilia had been rocking in the kid rocker and flipped backward and thunked her head on the concrete floor. After checking her eyes for equal reactions and determining to the best of my ability that she was OK, I went to get a drink of water. When I turned back around Emilia was poking at some yellowish stuff on the floor at her feet. My first thought was, "Oh no. She threw up. This is worse than I thought."

But then I looked closer.

And looked at all of the drips around on the carpet.

Nope. Not throw up.

Baby poop.

My grandma had been holding Audra and Audra had completely filled up and overflowed her diaper. Wasn't that nice of her? :) It was all down my grandma's shirt, her sweater, her pants, on her shoes. It was in the garage, on the carpet, on the coffee table and Emilia was smearing the spots on the carpet around like finger paint. Oh, and did I mention my grandma just recently got brand new carpet?

Blue carpet + yellow baby poop = not a good thing.

I scrubbed for at least 30 minutes to get all of that crap (literally) out of the carpet. I still didn't get it all, but I wasn't getting anymore out. I'm hopeful that her cleaning lady will have better luck because otherwise I'm going to feel really bad. But I just wasn't making anymore progress on it.

Plus, the troops were restless. It was time to go.

As I was packing the kids into the car, my grandma came up to me, put her arm around my waist and said, "Good luck. I'll be praying for you. You call me if you need someone to talk to."

Nothing like a boost of confidence to send me on my way. :)

I'm happy to announce that my grandma's prayers must have worked, though, because the rest of the weekend passed without incident. Yay!

Plus, I met my goals for the weekend--we all made it out alive! :)

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One time over the weekend I gave the kids some fruit snacks. McCain picked up his bag of fruit snacks and said, "I don't like these. I am NEVER eating these."

Josiah looked at him and said, "You will if your WIFE makes you."

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A little more about our doctor's appointment yesterday...all of my kids have been prounced "perfect." They are all growing like weeds.

Audra now weighs 14 lbs (she's only 2 months old--ack!) and is 24 inches long (she's 2 feet long already!). Emilia weighs 28 lbs and is 36.2 inches long. She's over 3 feet! Micah weighs 41 lbs and is 41.8 inches tall....in case any of you were interested.

Numbers

* 4 kids
* 1 doctor's appointment
* 2 1/2 hours of our afternoon...over 2 of which were spent in an approximate 12x12 room.
* 2 bags of toys and books
* 5 trips to the potty
* 2 finger pricks
* 2 nursing sessions
* 3 trips to the scale
* 2 toddler tantrums
* 10 shots (3 for Audra, 1 for Emilia, 1 for Josiah and 5 for Micah)
* 15 minutes of screaming baby
* 5 minutes of a screaming toddler
* 7 suckers (aka bribery)
* $90 in copays
* 5 teaspoons childrens/infant tylenol
* 1 afternoon that I'm glad is over.

And Now You Are Five

My Micah Man.

My mystery man. There is so much about you that I don't understand. You keep your feelings to yourself and like to learn on your own. There is much about life that you like to do on your own. And I shouldn't be surprised. After all, one of your first words was SELF (always said very empahtically).



I still remember reading, "The Great Gracie Chase" with you. You loved that book. It was the only long storybook you would sit still to listen to. I wondered what it was about that book that captured your attention so much. One day after I read, "Gracie took a walk all by herself." you sat up straight, crossed your arms in front of you and with a nod of your head and a satisfied smirk on your face you said, "SELF."

And then I knew.

I knew you'd be independent. I knew you'd want to do things your own way. I knew you wouldn't be the rule follower that your brother was. I knew that I needed to protect and nurture and grow your sense of self so that you'd always be able to go wherever it was you were led with an inner confidence to support you through the journey. I don't know if I'm doing all of that, but I'm trying.



You are a boy of extremes. Extremely happy. Extremely mad. Extremely silly. Extremely not-in-the-mood-to-be-around-other-people. Everything is your "fravorite." Anytime I make you throw away a broken toy/picture/game/marker/book/piece of clothing, you cry, "But it's my FRAVORITE!" Thankfully, it is quickly replaced by a new fravorite. And "fravorite, fravorite" translates into second fravorite. "Red is my fravorite, fravorite color." Blue still rules the roost as your true fravorite color.

You are brave. Of all of my kids, you are their champion. If someone has to sit next to a stranger somewhere, you volunteer. If someone has to ask for something, you go without hesitation. I think it must be your independence. You don't worry about what others think or are doing. You are confident and self-assured. You are not afraid of new things or new people.



You make me laugh those deep belly laughs that are so good for the soul. Most of the time I don't even realize how badly I need a good laugh until after you have had one of your extremely silly moments and made me laugh until I cry. And then I am reminded of how blessed I am to have you in my life. How lucky I am to have you as my son. How much fun you add to my everyday life. I am so thankful that I have you to remind me to let go more, worry less and that life is better with a child-like heart. You are simply an incredible person and I know my world is a better place just because you share it with me.

I love you, my Micah Man.



May you always have the courage to follow your heart, the confidence to believe in yourself and something to laugh at everyday.

40

I wrote this post 2 months ago...before I had Audra. I just discovered it lurking in my archives. I didn't want it to get forgotten in internet/blogging Never, Neverland, so I'm 'publishing' it now.

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40 weeks. Once again, I'm one of the "lucky" ones to make it all the way to (and probably past) their due date. Umm....yay?? The good news is that baby is healthy and happy and growing beautifully in there. We are officially in the "any day now" part of pregnancy and that's good, too, because I'm getting pretty impatient with the waiting. But, I thought to celebrate reaching this lovely 40 week mark, I'd try to come up with 40 things that I love about life RIGHT NOW--today, even if I am big and huge and uncomfortable and impatient and...focus, Rebekah, focus. The list of things I love:

I love...

1. that I don't know if this baby is a boy or a girl. And yes, while there are times that it also drives me C*R*A*Z*Y that I don't know, I KNOW I'm going to LOVE the surprise of finding out when my baby is born.

2. seeing the clothes combinations that Emilia comes up with.

3. watching the 3 kids play together or wrestle or chase each other around the house.

4. the way Micah phrases things sometimes. He's so...HIM. He comes up with phrases or words for things that make total sense, but only he would think to call it that.

5. seeing Josiah curl up with a book and read for an hour.

6. that we've actually gotten snow this year!!

7. watching my kids dance--and dancing with them.

8. knowing that it can't be TOO much longer before I deliver the baby. At most, 2 weeks. In the grand scheme of things, that's not long at all.

9. hiding around corners and scaring the kids when they walk past (everyone except Micah because he doesn't like it)

10. feeling completely justified in not cooking dinner for over a week. Good thing the kids like sandwiches!

11. knowing that after the baby is born we'll be able to clear out a chunk of storage space by getting rid of all of the "other" gendered clothes we've been saving.

12. when the kids touch and talk to and kiss my baby belly.

13. getting to watch Josiah learn all of the things he's learning in school.

14. having no energy to do anything other than read a book. It had been a long time since I'd read a book and I've missed it!

15. having family in town to help out with the kids on days when I'm too emotional to cope.

16. watching movies with John.

17. seeing Emilia rub her belly with lotion and talk to her "baby"

18. how Emilia does "baby talk" to my belly ("Ahhh, baby...fushoo, baby") and rub it with lotion for me.

19. tickling the kids and hearing them laugh

20. when Josiah tells me I have to stop tickling him or he's going to get the hiccups. It's happened to him since he was a baby and I think it's so cute!

21. knowing that I'm not as pessimistic as I sometimes think I am since everyday I think to myself, "Maybe today is the day."

22. beginning to daydream about all of the things I will be able to eat and drink again once I have the baby.

23. Grandma days

24. that I live in the age of digital photography and can take all the pictures my heart desires.

25. watching Golden Girls reruns

26. starting to plan my garden for this year...and being optimistic that I will have the energy to keep up with it.

27. that the hair on my legs has all but stopped growing, so I don't have to try to shave around this massive belly

28. that all the kids seem to be excited about the new baby.

29. knowing I won't ever have to be 40 weeks pregnant again.

30. that my kids are (mostly) willing to help me pick stuff up off the floor since it's very hard for me to reach it

31. so far, I haven't gotten any new stretch marks.

32. that I didn't have the baby on my birthday.

33. my days of having to eat eggs for breakfast are almost over

34. that John has learned to cook a mean "over easy" egg

35. that spring is getting closer and closer

36. John and I got a bunch of free tulip bulbs last weekend

37. that I only have to come up with 3 more things that I love/am thankful for, because I've been struggling for the last 10.

38. my friends

39. that not everyone I know thinks I am crazy for having 4 kids.

40. that I KNOW no one has been pregnant forever, which means that eventually (hopefully), this baby, too, will be born and I will not be pregnant anymore. Hopefully that day will come SOON.

Maybe She's Born With It

I've mentioned Audra's super long eyelashes before, but have you really seen them? I tried to get a picture of them today. They are so pretty. They are so long that they even curl up, especially on the outer sides of her eyes. Maybelline ain't got nothin' on this babe!

If it's hard to see in this picture size, click on the picture for the super-size view and you'll certainly be able to see how pretty her lashes are

Interesting

Hey there, baby Audra. You haven't seen me in awhile, have you? I'm your big uncle!

(that's a quote from Micah. I don't know where that came from or why he was telling Audra that he's her uncle. No clue! So, does that mean that Emilia is her mom? I guess that would make me Audra's....great aunt or grandma?!?)

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Sometimes getting dressed on her own leads to combinations that are....well, quite interesting.


Is that a shirt?


Why, yes. Yes, it is.

Is her leg through the sleeve???



Why, yes. Yes, it is.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Instead

Instead of folding that laundry in the post down there, here is some of what I've been up to:

Making more flour messes in the kitchen with Emilia:


Watching the costume parade as put on by the kids:


Taking silly pictures with my girls:


Replacing the smushed baby rocking chair:


Receiving beautiful wildflower bouquets from Josiah:


Love, love, lovin' my little baby girl's long eyelashes, fuzzy head and double chin:


Watching the boys teach their sister how to do new things:


Laughing at the boys' silly antics:


Letting my kids play outside in jammie pants:


Getting more of those beautiful bubble smiles from Audra:


Taking embarassing pictures of my kids to share with future dates:


Enjoying springtime:


And for the record...I let the kids watch a movie after dinner and folded Mount Laundry. Micah lost his comfy seat and none of the laundry is put away yet, but we're one step closer! :) Yay! Celebrate the small victories, right?

Keepin' It Real

For those who wonder "how I do it all" (which is just a funny concept with four kids...)

Here is a picture of my life.

Meet "Mount Laundry"



The weather has been so beautiful the last few days so we've spent a lot of time outside and I've been working on switching out winter and summer clothes when we're inside and Audra has not been so into sleeping during the days...thus, Mt. Laundry. I feel accomplished in that I've been able to get it washed. Folding and putting away will happen eventually.

See, that's the thing about having 4 kids and homeschooling with an infant. It is just not possible to do everything. At least, not for me! I've just got to decide what is most important to me and realize that the rest of it will get done one of these days and be OK with that. {The "be OK with that" part is hard for me some(a lot) of the time. I can get really stressed by all the things I still have to do.} But...in my prioritizing, I've decided that the important thing is for us to have clean clothes, even if they are wrinkled and even if we pulled them off the couch instead of out of our drawers to put them on.

Hmmmm...looking at that picture up there, it doesn't look so bad. Let me give you some perspective. He kind of blends in, so look carefully



Yup. That's one big stack o' laundry.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A (sometimes, though rarely) single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Things I hope to always remember from today:

*Audra's bubble smiles

*Emilia pushing my hair out of my face for me when we were working in the garden

*Overhearing Josiah say, "Micah, you smell!"

*holding Audra's hand while she fell asleep.

*Josiah holding Audra and smelling her hair.

*Micah finding as many ways as he can to work the word "butt" into the conversation.

*Josiah telling me "I'm going to ask my wife to have 20 babies. Wait, wait, wait, no. THIRTY babies."

He Is Risen!

Happy Easter, everyone! I'm a little late on that, I know, but then again, aren't we really celebrating His resurrection all year round? :)

I hope you had as fun of a weekend as we did! It was busy, for sure, but filled with all good things. On Saturday we went to an Egg Drop where 30,000 eggs were dropped onto a field from a helicopter. Although the kids had a great time playing on the inflatables and everything else, the egg drop ended up sounding a whole lot more impressive than it turned out to be. But that's ok, because all we had to say was "helicopter" and the boys were all for it! :)

This is Emilia with her bunny face paint. If you asked her what was on her face, she'd say, "Bunny. Hop, hop, hop..." and hop around for you. It was soooo cute!



Josiah stuck with the theme of his outfit: UT!
Micah chose not to have his face painted. I think he was in the bounce house or something.



Here's the eggs being dumped from the 'copter.



After the Egg Drop we went to Nana's house to color Easter eggs and have an egg hunt with the cousins. I was supposed to bring wire wisks to make egg dyeing easier for the younger kids (put the egg in the wisk), but I always forget something and on Saturday, I forgot the wisks. I felt rather silly about it because egg dyeing was the main thing we planned to do, but hey, at least I didn't forget one of the kids, right?

The egg dyeing crew




After we colored four dozen or so eggs (and let them dry) the kids hunted the eggs out in the yard. Emilia was kind enough to pre-crack all of the eggs she found so that whoever eats them has a little less work to do. Micah also did his part by tripping and falling and landing on his stomach with about 5 eggs under him, so those were even pre-smashed, in case you were wanting to make egg salad or something along those lines. :) :) Aren't my kids so thoughtful? :) :)

Easter morning was BEAUTIFUL. Our neighbors have a weeping cherry (which is quite possibly my favorite flowering tree) between our driveways and it was so pretty Easter morning. We took our family picture in front of it and although I didn't get a single picture where all six of us look good (what a surprise, I know. Hello, photoshop, here I come!) the cherry tree looks awesome in all of them.

After church, we had a very yummy dinner at John's parents house and then we went (eventually) for a hike up at Norris Dam. The wildflowers were just starting to blossom and the weather was perfect for a hike. Micah was our leader most of the way and did an awesome job setting our pace. Josiah kept finding all sorts of neat stuff for us to notice (like the crocodile-shaped log in the river) and keeping us entertained with his singing and be-boppin'. Emilia walked some, was carried some, and rode some in the backpack carrier. She loved the hike, though, and is still talking about it today (for a 2 year old, that means a lot!) Audra slept in the Moby wrap THE WHOLE TIME. Mmmm...I love that moby wrap. How in the world did I make it through three kids without it??

Emilia in her backpack carrier.



Mighty Micah leading the way!



Refueling at the halfway point.



The kids "action" shot.



All of the hikers.



A few other tidbits from the weekend...
On Monday, we got out some new sidewalk chalk. Josiah said, "Mommy, now that we have gray, I can draw Grampa!" So, here's his grampa! :)



It was also warm enough to bust out the sprinkler for the first time this year. Clearly, the kids had a GREAT time!






I hope each of you had as great of a weekend as we did!

Then Goldilocks Tried the Third Chair...

...and it was just right. Suddenly, there was a loud CRASH! Goldilocks had broken the little chair, and she fell on the floor.



Turns out the Fisher Price Newborn to Toddler Rocker was not made to hold a 200+ pound grown man.

Ah, well. We live and learn.

Ha-ha...no, he wasn't really TRYING to sit in it. He tripped and FELL into it. And this is the end result. Poor sad rocking chair. After making it through 3+ of our kids, you met an untimely end. We'll miss you.

And no, I am not calling John "Goldilocks." We all know he has black hair (though it is becoming more salt and pepper every day.)

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A (sometimes) single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!