Am I a glutton for punishment?

Yes! I know I am, I don't even need to ask.....

So on Saturday, after spending all day cooped up in the house with wild kids and knowing I would have no chance of reprieve until 11 pm when Lance got home from his 12 hour shift, I decided we had to get out! It was 5:30 pm and all my ideas for dinner were foiled with the fact that no matter what I thought of, I was missing a key ingredient (or time anyway before the ravenous beasts would begin crying for food [dang cute beasts, I might add]). So, against my better judgment, I announced we would be going to McD's playland. Home of the gazillion bacteria, viruses and other nasties that abound there. Oh, how that place grosses me out but atleast, I thought, I would be able to eat my favorite Chicken Caesar salad in peace. And the kids would be happy with Chicken and fries (I will mourn the day that I will no longer be able to buy one combo meal to feed 3 kids).

Finally, after packing up tissues, hand sanitizer, wipes, baby cereal, bibs, and miraculously finding everyone a pair of socks and shoes we were ready to go. I find that when taking all 4 kids out alone I have to do a great deal of mental preparation. I know it may sound stupid - but my best ammo for preventing a disaster is to mentally go through the entire outing first in my head and then repeat it to the munchkins... and then again .... and again... and then test them ... and then ask what comes next. And who will be holding Emory's hand? And what will we do when mama calls? Yes, that's right we will come quickly [you know, when my mother calls me, quickly I'll obey...] So this was the plan:

We go to the playland, everyone takes off their shoes, but the socks stay on (did I mention that place grosses me out!?!). You all play nicely, help Emory around. Yes, that's right Adelle, we have to do that because last time Emory was little and got stuck and cried and cried until I could finally hunt you down to go help her. Okay. Mom and Kalem will go get the food. When we come back everyone comes to the table and does NOT touch any food until the hand sanitizer has made its rounds. Then you eat, and go play some more, so mom can eat. Capeesh?

I think we were good until that point. Or atleast until the point that Adelle came running to the table, grabbed some napkins, and started to dash back to the playland. Now, most people would not have given it a second thought, but when you are a mom you know that means somethin' is goin' down. Kids don't just randomly desire to carry napkins with them on a McDonald's playland. So I grab her asking what the napkins are for. And very matter-of-factedly (is that a word?) she states, "Emory's got poo on her hand." What??? She said it like that's what you would expect to find on every playland (although, I guess I can't entirely dispute that). So I demand that she go bring Emory down right now! Thank goodness Adelle is an obedient child. A few seconds later Emory emerges holding out her hand to show me her treasure. I think I would have hurled right then and there if it hadn't been for the fact that I was half worried that it had come from her. Even if she is potty-trained, it's only been in the last few months, and heck, she's only 2. So with Kalem in one arm and miss poopie-hand in the other I order everyone to follow me to the restroom. (Thank goodness poop can hold Talmage's attention - well, I guess that's not always true - but that's a post for another day :) )

So long story short, we get to the bathroom to find that Emory is clean (well, her bum anyway - kinda gross to think that her bum was cleaner than her hands); Talmage is mortified to find that he used the women's restroom earlier when I took him to the bathroom, which I was doing a very good job of covering up until some other boys followed us and told him he was entering the girls' bathroom (apparently when I ordered everyone to the restroom they thought that meant them, too, LOL); and Adelle gives me the lowdown on the poo. At this point, I really am ready to hurl b/c that means that some other child's feces is on my child's hand! And who knows how many other kids have touched it and then walked around touching everything else. Eww, eww, eww.

And to top it off, while waiting in line to tell an employee about the dump in the playland some woman comes up behind us and starts telling Adelle that she loves her and begins hugging her! It was obvious that she had some mental disabilities but by that point, I was so done with McDonald's. I grabbed our stuff and we high-tailed it out of there. So there you have it... a day in the life.....

Did I mention I will never be going to another McDonald's playland in my life?

On a happy note, we had family pictures done last Monday by the very sweet and talented Wendy Whitacre of Blue Lily Photo. I can't post any pictures as I do not have the rights to them yet, but you can go to her blog to see them. I was so stressed about the whole session - what to have everyone wear, making sure the kids were in a good mood, getting them to be natural and not cheez so bad for the camera. Wendy was great and I am still amazed that she was able to get so many great shots in one 30 minute session. Hopefully, I will be able to post more in the next few weeks!

Quote of the Day

I know it's been a long time. I think I might finally be coming out of the cave.... maybe. What with having our internet down 3 different times and living that crazy thing called life, my blog fix has been hurting. I had to add this today, though, before I forgot. This was Talmage talking to Adelle after he was upset with me and said he was going to call the cops to come take me to jail.



"Did you know that if you go to jail you have to share your dirty underwear with the other people?!"

1st Day of Kindergarten

Today was the first day of kindergarten for Talmage. That special day that is full of all kinds of emotions for mothers. That day when tears are shed.

You know, those emotions like humiliation, frustration, embarassment, exhaustion.... what? Ohhhhh. Not those emotions, huh? So you mean your child didn't go to kindergarten kicking and yelling, being prodded and coaxed? Refusing to have his picture taken? And your child didn't even try to run away, fighting teachers and staff? And those mother's tears aren't supposed to be out of sheer frustration wondering how you will ever survive raising this kid? And you didn't get a phone call an hour into class saying you needed to come back to the school because he was still trying to run away? Well now, aren't you the lucky one.

Someday I will understand why he is putting me through the refiner's fire.... in the meantime, I will do my best and love him!

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day, saying.... "I will try again tomorrow." -- Mary Anne Radmacher

Tag, you're it!

The Rules:
• Link the person(s) who tagged you.
• Mention the rules on your blog.
• Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
• Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.
• Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged!

Tagged by Julia, the sweet lady that holds my baby every Sunday, and my friend of course!

1- I am a night owl. Always have been. And much to my chagrin, always will be. I have to be the last one to go to sleep (and typically have been the last to get up). Even in high school it just felt odd to go to sleep before everyone else and I was usually up studying anyway. So between that and pulling too many all-nighters in college I am ruined for life. I envy all you morning people and have tried endlessly to change my internal clock. Oh well, I guess you make the best of what you've got!

2- I am a picker - there I admitted it! I pick at everything. Lance likes to make fun of me b/c I can't seem to sit down to nurse Kalem without picking at his ears or dry skin or whatever. As you can imagine cradle cap on my babies drives me BONKERS! Funny thing is that I seem to have passed it down to my girls, too. If you ever need stickers pulled off something or the paper pulled down on a crayon give it to Adelle and Emory. They'll take care of it..... even when you don't want the stickers taken off, they'll take care of it, LOL.

3- I love doing laundry and am a bit anal about it (yes, Natalie, I can see you nodding your head and laughing). Lance knows that no matter what, you don't touch my laundry b/c I am so particular about it. Does that mean it's always folded and put away? No. I did pretty good up until Emory was born and then at some point after that I got behind in putting it away and well, I'm not sure I ever got caught up. Maybe I should rephrase that to say I love washing laundry.

4- I very rarely have any desire to watch TV or movies (especially chick-flicks, blech!) I get so bored and can't stop thinking about everything that needs done. If I do watch movies, it's usually just kid-type movies or something like The Chronicles of Narnia.... well except for anything Jared Hess (gosh!).

5- I have a terrible habit of taking on too much... and I don't mean that in a good way. I put way too much on my plate b/c I seem to think I can do it all and then I wonder why I am pulling my hair out. In high school, it was working 30 hours/week and having no life. In college, it was taking 18-21 credits each semester while working part-time. And now it's just the life of a mom I guess and wearing all the different 'hats' that come with church, community, school, home and gardening, etc. Sometimes I think it stems from pride. Whatever it is, things always seem to work out so I never learn my lesson. I'm trying to realize that I have more control over it than i think.

6- I am a clean-freak, but not a clutter-freak.... if that makes any sense, LOL. I hate taking on the chore of organizing. It seems like such a huge project. So at first glance my house can seem untidy - things left out and not put away. But.... it's the little things that get cleaned more often. You know, the little things that no one will ever notice. For example, I can't stand when my air-return ducts are dusty and I have to wipe down all the baseboards regularly, and I can't stand it when the kitchen sink is dirty. I need to have the small details clean, but not necessarily the big stuff. Weird, I know.

There, now you know way more than you ever wanted to about me.

I think almost everyone I know with a blog has already been tagged.... so let's see....

Jessica, Natalie, KoriAnn, Heather P., and Megan (if you're still reading here - b/c you crack me up!)

Happy Birthday, Seester!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister, Kami! I was trying to find some of the great pictures from when we were kids, but this is all I have on the computer at the moment. I will have to add more when I find them later.

Kami is my "twin" sister, if you will. In fact, as teenagers we looked so similar that we were mistaken for the same person at girl's camp one year by our camp director. Remember that Kami? How Rose kept thinking we were the same person that just liked to change clothing a lot, LOL. Poor Rose, trying to take care of all 60 of us YW, and losing her mind!

Kami is one of those ladies that we all wish we could be like in some aspect or another. I wish I could have her fashion sense, or her ease of making friends, or even just her simple decorating skills. Maybe some day!

Hope you have a great one, Kami. We love you!

NEW Quote of the Day....

"Talmage, ya know what? Poop is made of dirt."
"No, it's not. It's made of food."
"Nut-uh, it's made of dirt! Right dad?"
"Nope, sorry, Adelle, Talmage is right. Poop is made from what's left of the food when our body is done using it"
"Oh........*thinking, thinking* why is Talmage always the genius?!"

Yep, poop is a hot topic at our house. Don't you wish it was at yours?

Quote of the day....

"I knew I was in trouble once the shark bit me."
~shark attack victim on Discovery Channel's Shark week DVD

um, ya think? 'Cause I'm not sure I would know I was in trouble if I was bit.

Check it out at redbox... free codes found here.
Just beware though, you may never be able to swim in the ocean again!
Talmage watched this show a million times and was just as fascinated each time as the first.

Introducing Kalem Kenneth......

Kalem was born on March 30, 2008. He was 7 lbs. 9 oz.....


.....and instantly adored by all of his siblings!



Especially Emory - Kalem is "her" baby. She always makes sure to come tell me when the baby is "cwying".


At about 1 week old......
And, yes, he was laughing in his sleep in the picture in our title header.



Sweet and soft baby feet..... (Tara, am I making you babysick yet?)



(sorry for some of the bad quality - it appears my computer did not save all my photo edits - and I am way too tired to bother redoing it)

Definitely an outie, don't you think?


This is called "instant baby sleeping burrito". He loves to be swaddled and held tight. If he is tired, this is the guaranteed way to get him to sleep quick.


And the most recent at 4 months old.....



I'm usually not fond of using a flash, but this "stunned by the headlights" picture just made me laugh....



Kalem is such a sweet and happy baby. He is always smiling and drooling. He seems to have lighter hair than all the other kids did as babies, including Emory (hers was dark until it fell out and the blond came in). And it seems to be getting more and more red tints to it. He has been so different from the other kids, but most like Adelle was as a baby. He's happy to feed only every 3 hours and really isn't very demanding.... if feeding time has to wait for a few minutes, he's cool with that as long as he is being held. The only thing that he is really particular about is his diaper. He can't stand to be wet or poopy (can't say I blame him!) And he can toot like no other! *cough cough* just like his namesake

He's definitely a keeper!

Interviews

So first, I think I will appease my dear friend Jenn. Jenn has lovingly nudged me back to the blogging world even if that means specifically tagging me through email so I can’t as easily shrug it off. Here is my mommy interview with Adelle:

1. What does mommy always say to you?

No (now in my defense, we did just come back from the grocery store and if you’ve ever shopped with kids you’ll understand why this was her answer.)

2. What makes mommy happy?

When I clean up (she pays attention, doesn’t she?)

3. What makes mommy sad?

When you can’t get something to work.

4. How does mommy make you laugh?

When you tickle me.

5. How old is mommy?

You know how old you are, I don’t (Clever, eh?)

6. What does mommy like to do?

Clean up the house.

7. What is mommy’s job?

To get work done.

8. What is mommy’s favorite food?

Potatoes.

9. what is mommy’s favorite color?

Pink (I think this is the only color that exists in Adelle-world)

10. How do you know mommy loves you?

Because I do what mama says (not sure what to think about that one…..)

Oh, and I'll tag anyone that wants to be tagged, because I really have no idea who really will even read this. How's that for lame? :) {*insert note here* for those of you who are new to the blogging world, tagging is just like "tag, you're it" but with get-to-know-you stuff}
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This reminded me of another interview that her preschool teacher did with her for Mother’s Day. The mothers were invited to a special tea party with the kids where they sang some songs for us and we got to guess which survey answers were ours. Of course, I completely forgot to bring a camera - I'm trying to get better about that. Luckily, her teacher offered to take a photo of us. Here is how Adelle filled in the blanks:

My mom has pink hair. (Again, can you tell what her favorite color is??)
My mom has green eyes. (Which she thinks are beautiful, but you know, not my nose)
My mom is 20 inches tall. (yeah, sometimes I do feel like that)
My mom weighs 50 pounds. (hmmm, not sure how to respond to that)
My mom likes to clean up. (are you noticing a trend here?)
My mom is silly. (Can’t argue that one)

Adelle is my little girly sweetheart. She is the peacemaker in our home and amazingly, has a very clear understanding of unconditional love. Just the other day, when I was upset with her about something she told me that she wasn’t happy with me but wanted me to know that she loved me anyway. She helps me out with the other kids so much – mothering Emory (her constant shadow and parrot) and Kalem; and acting as a second set of eyes on Talmage for me, LOL.

Jessica, whaddya think? Mrs. Parrish look alike? LOL!

It’s definitely time for an update, don’t you think?

I’m not exactly sure why I’ve had such a hard time getting around to this blog. It seems, I think about it a lot, but then I just ‘blog in my head’ and it never finds the need to get to the computer. [And by the way, the blog posts in my head are extremely witty and make me laugh out loud –it’s quite therapeutic really- but I can’t guarantee any such thing here, sorry] Or….. maybe it’s just that I’m changing butts, feeding kids, doing laundry, tripping on toys, cooking, lactating, following Talmage around, cleaning spilled milk, breaking up fist fights, singing fun kiddo songs with Emory (what’s the record for the number of times singing “Popcorn Popping” in a row?) and you know, reading blogs. I forget how much time it takes to nurse a newborn. Needless to say, I have found more time to read blogs than to actually do any blogging. Reading doesn’t require hands! :)

To be completely honest, I’ve put it off so much because I’ve felt this obligation of sorts to first post an intro and birth story of our 4th baby, Kalem, before doing any other blog posts. An obligation to whom or what I’m not sure. I have such a hard time writing up the births of my children because every little detail is so important in my brain, and it seems that it would take ages for it to be done. Plus, I’m never quite sure how detailed anyone even cares to hear, LOL. So I have decided to postpone that ‘obligation’ for a while until I’m ready. But for now, suffice it to say that he was born much like Emory sans drama; and with the bonus of Lance being with me this time (what a man! Now he can add delivering a baby on his resume!)

So expect to see some catch up posting here from the last 4 months… and,oh, in no particular order either. :)

37 weeks and St. George

These were taken at the Mitchell's sealing at the St. George temple on March 10. Thanks to Auntie and Jessica for sending pics to everyone. It was so warm and beautiful there.... when will spring come here??!

Adelle with cousins M & R

And two of my faves... Grandad on the temple steps

And the top of the temple..... excellent shot Jessica!

This one just makes me laugh because I think it was when Adelle was telling Auntie, "We don't say stupid!!" She and Auntie Lizbeth had quite the time that weekend. Since I just took one kidlet with me for the weekend I had no idea I would hear "she kicked me" and "well, she hit me" on the drive home - guess we all stay a kid at heart - love you Auntie!!

Painting

I decided to let the kids have some painting fun earlier this month when they were getting bored and running out of things to do. It was their 'reward' for something (can't remember) - probably cleaning or being nice to each other, LOL. Anyway, they had a lot of fun. Adelle was so excited, she was giddy and kept giggling to herself.

And her final masterpiece...... LOL, the canvas was the most fun part!

Talmage decided his was an Easter egg.....

A bit of good news!

And sorry, it has nothing to do with the baby.... He's happily hanging out where it's nice and warm and quiet... and who knows how much longer he will be there!

But.... we found out that Lance passed his RN NCLEX that he took on Wednesday, and is officially licensed now! He was scheduled to take it in April but decided to get it done and over with so he wouldn't be stressed after the little bubs gets here. He was so worried that he wouldn't pass and would have to wait 45 days to try again. But I knew he'd have no problemo! ;)

28.5 weeks

Well, not right now, but when I was 28.5 weeks. The ever popular belly shots..... I've discovered that you either hate them or love them. So if you are in the 'hate it - it's cheesy' camp please disregard. I actually wish I had taken more belly shots with the other kids' pregnancies. It's fun to compare how differently each was carried. And see how much growth there has been in such a short time. I'm now 36 weeks, and waddling! LOL! You'll just luuurve those belly pics when I get them uploaded!

Has it really been a month?

Yikes! It appears I have really neglected our blog! I really should go to bed, but you know me, anything before 2 am would just be 'early' hahaha!

Now that the snow is finally starting to melt (and I'm seeing all the toys reappearing in the back yard that we didn't seem to get cleaned up before the first snowfall), I guess I will post our pictures from the first of the series of huge storms we experienced this winter. It was amazing! I don't remember having this much snow since we were kids and dad plowed all the snow up against and over an old parked car along the road that we used as a sled hill. This first storm hit us with about 14". We woke up that morning to Adelle's preschool teacher calling us to cancel class... she didn't think anyone would be able to ge t up to her house as she lives on the bench in North Ogden. I had a midwife appointment to get to that a.m. so debated for awhile if it would be safe for me to travel the 20 minutes to get there. I finally decided that if I could get out of the unshoveled driveway and down the road I would be fine. Unfortunately, the parking lots had not been plowed and I almost got stuck leaving, but the trusty minivan made it! This picture was taken around noon and it still hadn't stopped coming down.

When I got home I got busy trying to shovel with Lance. Luckily, our sweet neighbors took pity on us (6.5 month pregnant wife/ limping husband) and loaned us their snowblower. Wow, what a lifesaver! The snow was almost too high already for even the snowblower, but it sure saved us a lot of time. Here's a pic of Lance trying to snowblow in his cute little boot that he still had to wear from his foot surgery right before Christmas. What a trooper he was all winter always out there shoveling so I didn't have to...usually with all his little piggys naked and exposed to the cold.

Talmage continued to work on stocking his little fort with snowballs. Lance had built it the night before the storm with him and Adelle. They were very proud of it and discovered that it doubled wonderfully as a sledding hill. The snow was too high for Emory to be able to walk or get about so Adelle got to stay in with her and be the big sister - what she does best!

And of course, I had to let Talmage have some photographer time! Gotta love the headless shot of me, but you get to see the belly!

Then for the best part of the day! Mmmmmmm - the best thing to stave off cabin fever!

All in all, it was a fun snow day - it really helped with the winter blahs! Now if only we would have known we would have two more of these storms and 9 foot high drifts along the driveway.....

Oh, the things they say!

I was going to post some pics from our snow day last week, but our internet is being sporadic so I'll have to save that for another day.

Kids are always saying the 'darndest' things and mine are no exception. I've never been good at writing down the funny things they say and sweet Kami told me once that if I didn't start doing it - she would! So here they are: recent and from memory.....

This past summer when our neighbors' dog was stolen from his backyard he was telling Lance and Talmage about it. Talmage told him matter-of-factedly (is that a word??), "Listen, Jose, all you've got to do is ask Heavenly Father to help you find Chico (the dog) and he'll help you!" Ah, the simple faith of a child!

Then when they got a new dog this fall, I heard Talmage yell from the front porch, "Hey, Jose, make sure you shut and lock your gate! You don't want to lose your dog again, do you!?"

As we were driving home one day Adelle asked if we were going home.
Me: Yes, Adelle we are going home.
Adelle: Ah, I don't won't to.
Me: How come?
Adelle: 'Cause it's funky for me!

When Adelle was 2.5, she watched Cinderella for the first time and of course, loved it. But we ended up going through a phase where every time she talked to me she had to say, "Yes, stepmother" or "Thank you, stepmother".

About that same time, I introduced the kids to the wonderful movie of The Little Rascals. My all time fave, but new to Lance. He was totally confused one day while buckling Adelle into her carseat when she smiled and blurted out to him, "You make me vomit!!"

Her current favorite is that we are all jealous of her. If you tell her something she doesn't like (i.e. no, Adelle you cannot have a seventh snacky) she'll respond, "You're just jealous of me." Ummm, yeah.

Saturday, we had a conversation that went something like this:
Adelle: Mom, you know what? You look different than you did when you married dad.
Me: Oh, yeah? How so?
Adelle: Well, you're eyes are just beautiful!
Me: why, thank you, Adelle, that's very nice of --
Adelle: But your mouth and nose aren't nice - they're ugly.

Ah, the honesty.... Adelle can't see Papa Seng without making sure he knows he has a big belly (kudos to Nana and him for the weight they've lost so far!) And then of course, there was that time a few years ago that Talmage asked me in all sincerity why my bum does that thing when I walk. Then proceeded to walk around jiggling his bum. *rolls eyes* Do I need to answer that one?

Emory's best so far is that she likes to walk around singing 'boompa dee doo'. I think she must have picked it up from the others after watching the old Charlie and the Chocolate factory.

Well, that's all for now.... I'm sure I will come up with more to add later.