Baptism

My nephew, Hunter, is being baptized this weekend, and I have been trying to explain it to my kids. Tori is very aware of her age/rank in the family, and she doesn't like that there are so many cousins older than she is. The worst part is that all three cousins that are older happen to have summer birthdays, and hers is in the dead of winter. Anyway--in discussing birthdays, age order, baptism, etc., Tori and I had the following conversation:

Me: "Hunter will be eight soon, that means that he gets to be baptized."

Tori: "Will I get baptized too?"

M: "Yup, when you turn eight."

T: "Does that mean I get to get baptized before Lily?"

M: "No, Lily is older than you, remember? She just turned five on her last birthday."

T: "So, it's Hunter, then Lily, then me?"

M: "No, Hunter is first, then Jake, then Lily, then you."

T: "So I will turn eight after Lily?"

M: "Yup"

T: sniffle sniffle

M "What's wrong Tor?"

T: "Mom, I don't want to die..."

HUH?? I still don't understand the conversation, but I am pretty sure that there was a miscommunication somewhere. We were in the car, so one can never tell what the other is actually hearing--especially when on of the people is FOUR! Once she was sure she wasn't going to die, she was ok with turning eight, being baptized, and life in general.

Time flies by

I can't believe that my prince is six months old today! The time has gone by so quickly and he has just fit so perfectly into our family. He is my chunkiest baby yet, so I was so excited to see how the man weighed in... 25% for height, somewhere in the 25-40% for weight (quite disappointing) and 75% for head. HELLO! Keep in mind that I felt ever single millimeter of the head. How is it that I have one baby with a big head, and that is the one when I didn't get drugs to deliver?!? Anyway--I always talk about Owen being a "screamer" or "cranky" or a "fussy baby" but he is also my little man. He is SO handsome, and he and I have some very special moments that I treasure. Some fun things to remember from the last six months:

--during his first week or two of life I had to set an alarm to wake him up to get him to eat...not characteristic of my kiddos

--he had reflux that made him cranky and is (thankfully) already over it

--the "witching hour" from 7-9 PM like clock work, he was always screaming

--when he was only a couple of months old he would wake up in the middle of the night, eat, then smile and want to play--never scream and cry

--he took about three bottles EVER--he hates them unless they are used as a toy, not a food source

--he never got "tummy time", so in June when we finally decided that we better try to give him some he rolled right away--we were shocked

--his first smiles and coos were just for Mama--when his sisters went to bed, he and I would sit and have our chats, and those will forever be precious memories

--he ATTACKS his food whenever we give him baby food/cereal. It is hilarious to watch the kid eat

Though there have been some hard days, and some frustrating times, he is my angel, my prince, my love, my Owen!

I love you little man! You make me so happy!

One of those days...

As mothers I think we all have "those days." You all know what I'm talking about...by 8:15 AM you are thinking "Why did I get out of bed?" Well, sometimes those days sneak up on you. Today snuck up from behind, caught me, and laughed in my face--HARD!
Thursdays are Tom's late days, so I am almost always alone with the kids in the evening. We are all pretty used to the routine. Tonight was similar--Owen screaming, girls giggling and squealing, and mom...surviving. Owen would only calm down if he was held, so I strapped on the Snuggly and started boiling the noodles for dinner. He was still throwing a fit when I attempted to strain the noodles. After one nicely placed kick from Owen, the noodles were not on the in the pot, nor in the colander. Do you know what it smells like when noodles sit on a hot burner? I do! Owen went downstairs to scream in his crib. Eventually we started to eat and I bit my lip so hard that I was crying and bleeding, and the girls wanted to bandage the inside of my mouth, and Owen is still screaming. I am SO not amused.
I have been trying so hard to be patient with the girls, but I am losing it at this point. I have two options: 1-scream at the girls, shove them in their room and hope for the best, 2-try to do something fun and keep them occupied until bed time. COOKIES IT IS! M and M cookies no less. The girls are thrilled. We start to make the cookies, and Mommy's finger gets tightly pinched in the measuring cup deal, then while fishing the flour out of the brand new bag, Mommy gets a nasty paper cut. OH MY GOSH! This MUST be candid camera!
The cookies finally go into the oven. "Girls, go potty and get ready to get your jammies on."
Tori and Lizzie run into the bathroom to take care of business, and I have Tori watching Lizzie carefully (she has nasty habits previously mentioned in this blog) to avoid further incident. Owen is now upstairs (still screaming) in his Bumbo seat, and now he SMELLS! I take Owen into the girls' room to change his pants on their rug and ... poop everywhere! Nice job little man. It is on the rug and on his clothes. Tori runs in (naked) to help. She is holding his hands while I attempt to wipe him down. The wipes run out. I race downstairs to get more wipes. Meanwhile Owen has stuck his feet in his poo, then kicked both of his arms and his belly. Now it really is everywhere! Cue the telephone ringing, and the beeping of the oven timer--COOKIES ARE DONE! Oh, and don't worry, here comes the holler from the bathroom--"Mommy, I made poopies!"
AAAAA! Domestic Goddess is a title I deserve! Now I have three sleeping kids, fresh unburned cookies, a sink full of dishes, too much laundry, and the potent smell of carpet cleaner. This is the life!

Short hair

Well, Tori has been begging for short hair for months now. Her cousin, Lily, got her hair cut a while ago, and Tori wanted to follow suit. I have been putting it off thinking that she didn't really want short hair, and she would regret it. (At least that is what I told myself.) Well, in all honesty I was the one that was not really ready for the event, but she got her way on Saturday just before Aunt Manda moved back to Vermillion. We went over to get a trim, but Tori had other ideas. Mom was not mentally prepared. In a matter of about ten (very painful) minutes we went from this:







to this:







About six inches later, she was THRILLED! She likes "short hair", and I guess I am getting used to it. I loved her long hair so much, but it really isn't that short, and it is much healthier and much less tangled... Oh well, I guess I don't always get to win. I am getting used to that fact.

I love you...

In one of the very rare moments when Tori and I were alone this week I forced her to snuggle me...just for a minute. My kids are anything but snuggly, but sometimes mama gets what mama needs. We had the following conversation when she finally broke free...

Me: Tori Lynn, do you know how much Mommy loves you?
Tori: Ummm....like.....a million?
Me: WAY more than that!
Tori: A million and SIXTY?!?
Me: Yup--a million and sixty!

I love my kids a million and sixty. I am so blessed with three amazing little ones that I can adore for eternity.

Saturday morning

I was exhausted this morning from being up so late last night (getting and reading my book) but since Daddy is going out of town tonight and the girls are NOT happy, we decided to have some fun before he left. We have spent many Saturdays this summer at the farmer's market, so that was nothing new, but this time we let the girls play in the fountains while we were there. Then we just HAD to get balloons, what's a family Saturday without balloons?

Lizzie followed Tori around like a lost puppy--it was so cute! It is so strange to see Liz being timid!

Tori had a "butterfly backpack" and Lizzie wanted a princess crown.

Breaking Dawn

My book and my wristband!

Yup, I'm a dork, and I got totally drawn in by the latest literary phenomenon. I am a total Stephenie Meyer fan! Last night I went to the Breaking Dawn party at Barnes and Noble. I went with a group of friends to a preparty dinner, then I met my mom and sisters at Barnes and Noble for the main event (more pics to come of this part). The most important part came at 12:02--that's right, I was number 27 and I was checked out at 12:02, they were that fast! I haven't finished the book yet, because I have three small children, but hey, I am loving it!

Splish Splash!

Today all we went to the pool with some of the cousins. The kids had a blast, and it was a really good way for us moms to escape some of this nasty heat. It has been so rough lately (I know, those of you that live in the desert think I'm a wuss, but I really don't like hitting the triple digits!) Even Owen really liked cooling off--at least short term.

Linda, Logan, Brayden, Hunter, Lily, Sophie, Lizzie, and Tori.