September

I hate catching up this way, I wished I had done more to keep up way back when, but I will do my best here!!

School started. Spencer is repeating first grade, we decided to call it his bonus year. In the pictures, it might look like he is trying to scare off vampires, but really, he is making a plus sign to show what grade he is in. I didn't want to just do a "1" again, as that might be confusing when looking back at pictures. Carter started Kindergarten. I didn't have him hold up his fingers.

Even though Carter doesn't go to school until 11:30, he came out in the morning with Spencer to get some pictures with the neighbor kids.


Miana didn't start school, but she really wanted to be in a picture with the boys. We had her signed up for a preschool class (only once a week for 2-2.5 year olds) but opted to take a year off of paying tuition as we have paid it continuously for the previous 5 school years. Note: I'm not sure why Carter was pulling on Spencer's shirt.


Towards the end of September, I took tons of pictures of Tayla. Until I have time to insert a slide show here, this will have to keep it's place. I just love this little girl!!

Photo Credits... because I'm a stealer of things...

In my last few posts, I used many pictures that I did not take myself and have been asked to give photo credits... The picture of my whole family is a picture by Emilie Campbell (a photographer in Utah), I got the picture off Paige's blog. Several pictures from the lake house are from Jaclyn, including the one of Miana close up. The pictures of Paige's kids are from Paige's blog, either taken by her or Matt. The one of Rockstin was presumably taken by Briette, as I stole it from her blog. The soccer pictures are either from Dave or me, I can't remember without looking at them...

It's December, let's talk about August...

In August, the kids and I went to the lake house with Jane and her kids, Jaclyn, and my parents. The kids had a great time with all their cousins and on Papa's new boat.

We came home and spent lots of time at the pool. Then, at the end of August, some wonderful things happened to my family. August 28 started it all...

That morning, my Dad and brother-in-law, Matt flew to Ethiopia to pick up Matt and Paige's new daughter. Anke is a beautiful little girl and just about the easiest baby I have ever met. She is a joy, which is great because Paige got her a little sooner than expected, giving her 4 kids under the age of 4. You can read about it here.

Then at about 1pm or so that same day, my Sister-in-law's water broke. In a matter of minutes, my brother delivered his new son all by himself. Rockstin is a cutie and also a great baby. Congrats to Brett and Briette!!

That afternoon, I started feeling like I was a getting a UTI which wasn't really a UTI, but I will go into more detail in a second.

Also, on Friday night, August 28, Andrea got engaged to an amazing man named BD. Sooo excited for them! They got married on Nov. 7, so look forward to more about that to come...

Back to my UTI... I dealt with it with OTC meds and planned on going to the doc on Monday. On Sunday, Dave left to fly to Detroit and about the same time his plane took off, I had a horrible intense pain hit. It was the 2nd worst pain I had ever had (my gallstone was worse). I left the kids with a neighbor while waiting for my Mother-in-law to come to the house. My sister-in-law met me at the ER (yes, I drove myself). I was in intense pain in the waiting room, but it began to subside as we went back to check in. I described the pain and was sent to get a CT scan. The scan revealed that I had a 5mm Kidney stone traveling from my kidney to my bladder and was currently hanging out in my ureter just outside the bladder. For those that don't know, 5 mm is considered sizeable. The best part was when we were getting my discharge instructions, the nurse tells me that they also found a 9 mm stone in my OTHER kidney. Sounds great. On Monday, I went to the urologist and got an appointment to get the 5mm stone removed in an out patient procedure the next day. (total luck that they had an opening, usually they schedule it a week out, they 9mm stone is a totally different procedure and is scheduled a month in advance, I have to wait for that one.) Tuesday was a horrible day, I was in intense pain and had a horrible, horrible headache. That night Spencer started soccer.

Carter started on Thursday night, which is the night Dave came home from Detroit.

(Carter throwing his ball into the air)

My pain continued until the following Monday. It's good it stopped because the boys started school on Tuesday, which is also the day Dave went back to Detroit. That's coming in the next post... :) That's all for now!

Actually catching up...

I've put it off long enough! I am finally going to write about our trip to Utah in July (it's Nov. if you didn't notice...)

We flew in late on Sunday night. Monday we went to the outlet mall and spent the whole day with family. We then had dinner with most of my siblings. On Tuesday, we got up early and drove up to Idaho to spend some time with Dave's family. That was, of course, fun as always. Here is a picture of the kids with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Young. We got there at lunch time, had lunch at their house with cousins, aunts, and uncles. Then we took the kids to play in the water at Aunt Carol's house, she flooded her lawn with canal water. The kids had fun with their second cousins! We then had dinner and got in the car to drive back to Utah, it was a crazy, but fun, day! Wednesday we went to Jordanelle Resevior to play on their "beach" with my mom's side of the family. Some people went boating, skiing, and road the jet skis. We left just after lunch to get the kids home for a nap, which was totally necessary. Thursday was family pictures, I've been trying to get a copy of one but never did, so I copied this picture off of Paige's blog. That night we had dinner with my mom's family at Sugarhouse Park. It was very nice to see all of the cousins and aunt's and uncles. Friday it was time for my dad's family to have their reunion. We went to Seven Peaks Water Park and then dinner at Kent's house. Saturday was again dinner at Kent's house. Sunday morning Dave, Trent, Jaclyn, Connor, and Annika all left for VA (Dave flew, the others drove together). The rest of us went to church with Paige and then had dinner at her house. On Monday, Andrea, Jane, Quinn, and Corinne all flew back to VA and Brett and Briette went back to CA. Between Monday and Friday, we got lots of quality time in with Paige's family. 2 of the days the kids went to a 3 hour camp at MyGym. It was really fun and they loved it! We also spent one evening at Dave's aunt's house. It's always fun to see Valda, Jennifer, and Christopher! The kids did a lot of swimming and having fun at the Condo while we tried staying out of Nana and Papa's way. Friday was Pioneer Day in UT and we watched a parade on TV, went to a little amusement park and then went to a park near Paige's house for dinner. We went to Paige's house afterwards, briefly, so we could check in to our flight. Saturday we flew home to VA. It was nice to be home, but I miss being able to see Paige every day. Someday...

Halloween Fun

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Taking a break...

We take a break from our regularly scheduled "catch-up post" to share some breaking news. Okay, okay, so we were ALREADY taking a break because I am VERY far behind on catching up. I am now to the point where I have to do catch ups on my catch ups. Before I get to any of that, I want to share a few conversations I have either participated in or overheard in the last few days.

Monday, Oct. 12:
-I see Spencer pick up an antenna and a broken remote control car.-
Me: That's broken, we're going to throw it away. You can play with something else.
S: No. I know it's broken, that's why I need it. With this antenna, I am going to make it connect to the satellites.
-Goes outside, comes back a few minutes later.-
S: I need tape. (he starts digging around in the cupboard so I ask him to stop and offer to help)
Me: Tell me what you need it for so I know what kind of tape to get you.
S: I need to connect 3 wires together.
Me: Oh, I see. (Of course. Normally, we would use electrical tape, but I couldn't find any so brown packing tape it was)
S: (after I handed him 1 piece) Mom... I think I will need more than that. I have to connect 3 wires and fix some broken parts AND connect the antenna.
Me: Okay. (3 more pieces of tape) Start with those and come back for more later.
-he went outside for about 5 minutes, normally he would have run off, losing interest in that long of time, but he came back in asking for more tape.-
Me, as I was cutting off the tape: What's this piece for?
S: I need to put the tiny battery back on, so make it a very small piece of tape.
-The tape I gave him was apparently really big, he ran out to get the battery, it WAS very tiny. He needed one more piece of tape to attach the spring to the end of the antenna.-

My sweet boy spent a good 20 minutes on this project, much longer than he normally devotes to a project. It was fun to watch him experiment. I am sure that if he had ANY knowledge of electronics that he could probably have made it work.

The next conversation happened on the same day, same child.
Me: When are you going to give me my birthday present? (I was teasing him because he had already told me he really wanted to buy me a diamond ring for birthday)
S: I don't have any money so I can't give you a present.
Me: You don't have to buy anything to give a gift. I would really like to have someone pick up the toys in the family room, and (muttering under my breath) I would really like it if I didn't have to make dinner.
S: I could make dinner! You will have to teach me to use the oven... hmmm... do you have to know how to read to use the oven?

I explained that I would help with the oven parts and we decided on something that he could make for dinner, he then went out to play. Later, in the evening, he did make dinner, cresent dogs, accompanied by potato & ham soup provided by Denise. It was a great birthday dinner. The boys also worked together to clean up the family room and then they let Miana vacuum when they were done! It was fantastic!!

Remember that day...

Do you remember that day when I said I was going to post something every day until I caught up? Well, apparently, sometimes I lie.

Also, I tried to find pictures of the baby's blessing, but I guess we didn't take any. I knew we didn't have any group shots (too crazy of a day with family coming in and out) but apparently, I didn't take any of the baby in her blessing dress either. So... no pictures of that, but here's the story.

Remember that on July 4th, my parents came home from their mission? Well, that weekend, Dave's brother, Don also came in that weekend for a visit. In fact, he babysat our kids so we could go see a movie! It was awefully generous of him and we really appreciate the chance to go on a date. We went that night and also picked up my sister, Jaclyn, from the airport. On Saturday, (July 4th) we had lunch with the Tarbets so we could spend some time with Don before going to pick up my parents. Jaclyn came with us because we were going straight to the airport afterwards. Then we picked up my parents which you already read about. Then, on July 5th, we blessed Tayla. It was wonderful to have Dave's brother there to participate as well as having my parents home to see it/participate in it. After Sacrament Meeting, I took the baby home and Dave stayed with the other 3 kids so they could go to their classes. My parents, Dave's parents, Danielle, Jaclyn, Andrea, Baylor, and I all had lunch. My parents went back to their ward, Dave's family stayed awhile then left to get Don to the airport, Jane and her family flew in, my parents picked them up, they came out here and had something to eat, then all went home and to bed. It was a crazy day but a fun memory!! I am grateful for so much family support.

Quotes of the day - both from Carter!!

Me to baby: Are you slobbering on me?
Carter, walking by: that's her super power.
Me to C: Her super power is slobber power?
C: Yes, she also has pee power and poop power.

I see. I hope she is on my team... don't want to come up against THAT in a fight...

Later this morning:

C: Mom, you have to move the couch. CAN you move the couch?
Me: Yes, I think so.
C: I think you can do it if you do not have so much fat. Let me see... (looks at my stomach). Yes, your fats are going down, you can probably move the couch.

I'm not positive, but I think that was his way of saying that I am looking skinnier today... Umm... thanks for the compliment?

This was all before 9:45am! Can't wait to see what the rest of the day brings!

Conversation with a 2 year old

We take a break from our regularly scheduled update to bring you breaking news... okay, it's not news at all. It is just a little peek into my life.

Today, I had another 2 year old, named Jakob, here. I put Miana and Jakob both down for naps at the same time and then J's mom came to pick him up before M woke up. Here is the conversation after she woke up.

Me: Hi! Did you have a good nap?
M: Yah. Where Jakob go?
Me: He went home, his mommy wanted him home.
M: Jakob go home? Jakob go home mommy. I wear this (now pointing to a rain coat she had on earlier, she then put it on). I (mumbles something) this. Jakob home.

She then walked around for about 10 seconds with the rain coat on and then went into the hallway.

M: Jacob have this (pointing to the jacket Jakob borrowed when we went outside). I have this. Jakob home. Mommy Jakob home. I have drink. This Jakob cup. Where Miana cup?
Me: Here's your cup, do you want water?
M: Yah. Miana have water. (takes a drink, then a quiet pause) Where Jakob go?

I love 2 year olds! This all happened in about a 3 minute time period. She was talking fast.

Yah.

My parents came home!

We have had such a busy summer! School got out the end of June and just 2 weeks later my parents came home on July 4th! It was amazing to see them and have them back in "my world." I had truly missed being able to just call my mom up on the phone and talk. I think I called her every day that next week just because I could! To prepare for their arrival I had the kids do a 3 day project during HW time. Day 1 assignment was to figure out what they wanted to say on the sign and write (or trace) the words onto the sign in pencil and go over it with paint. Day 2 assignment was to draw a picture on the front but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was supposed to be of. I remember that on Spencer's he was supposed to look up on the computer and draw pictures of the 3 flags from my parents mission and 1 flag for the US and draw them on the poster, but I can't remember what Carter's assignment was... somehow both posters ended up with lots of suns drawn on them. Day 3 assignment was to turn the posters over and draw what they thought Nana and Papa would as soon as they got home. Carter predicted that they would walk all over their house and look at everything, Spencer predicted that Papa would go on a 4-wheeler ride and go all around his property. (I thought they would eat dinner and go straight to bed). Here is a picture of us at the airport:

Spencer's sign is the best, it says, "I love you... I like you" After the airport, we stopped and picked up pizza and went out to their house for pizza and some dessert. The first thing my dad did was go inside and start wandering around the house (good prediction, Carter!) We then had dinner and the boys had to explain their signs to Nana and Papa (oral presentation) as part of homework. We didn't want to stay too long with them being so tired, so we had dessert and packed up the kids. I found out that right after we left, my dad got on the 4-wheeler and went out to look all around his property (Spencer's prediction!) My kids really know their Nana and Papa!

Once again, I am WAY behind!

I find myself being months behind in my blogging. I have never posted about my parents coming home from their mission, Tayla's blessing, our trip to Utah, the trip to the lake, my sister's new daughter, my brother's new son, my other sister's engagement, my precious stones, soccer starting, treating shock, AND finally, school starting! I am going to try to cover at least 1 thing everyday until I get caught up... starting tomorrow... :)

Clean up negotiation

The kids have been playing in the basement for the last 3 days. I have been avoiding going down there to see the mess. Today, I asked the boys if there was a mess down there and they said yes. I told them that I was coming down to check in 10 minutes and that they should go clean up. Spencer starts down the stairs and turns to say, "Okay, we'll clean up, but you have to pay us for it." So I turned to him and said, "Fine, I will pay you for cleaning up the messes, but you have to pay me for every mess you make." He agreed and went down to clean up. They came up when they were tired and Spencer demanded his money. I said, "okay, get your money box." They both ran to find their money and came back. I told Spencer that he needed to pay me for making the mess first. It was a $5 mess. He paid me $5. I then said, "well, you didn't clean up EVERYTHING, so you did a $3 clean up job. He seemed disappointed that I didn't pay him $4, but took the money. Carter paid me $2 and I paid him $1 for his work.
Overall, I got $3 and they did some work without crying. The rule is, if you clean up without getting paid, you don't get charged for the mess. Eventually, they will clean up everything and we will break even OR they will clean up without asking for money, either way I win!

Indiana Jones and the... Enfamil Lipil of Doom!

In case you can't tell, that's Lego Indiana Jones in the formula container. I found Miana sitting on the counter next to this and I said, "what happened?" She said, "bad guy in there," proudly pointing at the container. She calls all of the boys' action figures/lego people "bad guys" because the boys are always talking about fighting the bad guys when they play with them. Apparently, this is part of the next Indiana Jones adventure. He will be stuck trying to climb out of the sand-like substance in a giant container. He will be nearly to the top when someone will add water and the whole thing turns to liquid. It will be a box office smash!

"The best day of my life"

On Thursday morning we drove to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to go through an open house. You can find out more about it here. We were able to take the kids and it was a really good opportunity to teach them about these wonderful buildings and the things that happen there. We were inbetween rooms and my mom leans forward and says to Spencer, “maybe after this is over, we should go get a donut.” Spencer is looking around and nods. He says, “yes, this Temple is SOOOO beautiful, it makes me want to eat a donut.” Then at the end of the tour, they invited us to a reception area for cookies. Mom said, “Spencer, did you hear that? They have cookies, we won’t need to eat a donut.” Spencer said, “I think we should have cookies AND a donut.”
On the way out of the Temple, Carter leans over and says, “Mom, THAT Temple was AWESOME”
We then went to the distribution center and let the kids each get their own copy of the Book of Mormon and pick out a case for it. Spencer was super excited.
After lunch, we changed clothes and the boys went to MyGym for summer camp. They love this camp. Spencer said, “This is the best day of my life. We got to go to the Temple AND go to summer camp.”

Beany Babies

S: MOM!! Guess what!?! Little Teeny Baby Beanies are coming back.
(I start to wonder what he is talking about, but I don't have to wait long for an explanation)
S: Remember? You used to play with them when you were little. (actually, I never had any, but they were around - my siblings had them)
S: They are coming back in McDonalds Happy Meals. You will be so excited because they used to be retarded and they are bring them back.
(it only took me a second to realize that he actually meant "retired" not retarded.)
S: They won't be retarded anymore and we can get some in McDonald's happy meals, right, Mom?
Me: (trying not to laugh) that's right, they won't be retarded anymore, nor will they be retired. Maybe in a couple of weeks you can get a happy meal with one in it.

He left with a big smile on his face... came back a few minutes later...
S: Mom, Carter wants to know what a bing-y baggy thing is.

Never a truer statement...

Carter: Guess What? Chicken butt.
Me: We don't say that.
Carter: Daddy says that.
Me: Sometimes Daddy is naughty.
Carter: And you have to pay for it.

That's right. I have to pay for it.

Thank you, TV!

For all the arguments that people's lives (children's lives) are better when there is limited TV watched at home, there is that one moment that PROVES that carefully selected shows are an enrichment to children.

When Spencer was 3 or 4, he could explain that the world was made up of molecules, that microbes are what change a cucumber to a pickle, and that friction and gravity are necessary. Thank you, Magic School Bus!

This morning, Carter was playing a game of pretend. I hear him say, "Stay away Big Jet, don't hurt me, YOU ARE MY NEMESIS!!" I hadn't ever heard the word nemesis until I was in college (seriously). I just wanted to say, Thank you Little Einsteins and a HUGE Thank You to Phineas and Ferb!!

Dave and I decided not to actively teach our children Spanish because of Spencer's speech delay. Both boys pick up on Spanish quite quickly now having watched Dora and the ladies on PBS that come on between shows. They will be in great shape when they get in high school/college Spanish. Thank you, TV!!

A quote, before I forget it...

"Mom, Jesus doesn't want us to butter our corn with our feet, He wants us to use our hands."

We were talking about Curious George. There is an episode where he gets in trouble for buttering his corn with his feet, until he builds himself a tree house... the rule there is that you HAVE TO butter your corn with your feet. This intrigued him, thus giving us the quote above.

Finally, my slide show

These pictures were taken on Saturday, May 23. The baby smiles a lot more now, but I really wanted to get pictures done before life got crazy in the summer. Enjoy!

Our summer schedule

There were so many reasons for creating this, but here is our summer schedule. We put it together for FHE one night. The kids helped me work on it... I can be flexible on most of it, but somethings are required, regardless of what time they are. Enjoy!

8:00 am – You can ask Mom or Dad for help getting Breakfast or Snack
8:30 am – Homework time
· 8:30 Spencer has computer time/ Carter works with Mom
· 9:00 Carter has computer time/ Spencer works with Mom
9:30 am – Family fitness time (can include pool time)
10:00 am – Playtime (outdoor allowed, TV allowed on rainy days)
11:30 am – Lunch
12:00 pm – Quiet time/ nap time (all boys quiet time, all girls nap time)
1:00 pm – Boys excused for outdoor playtime (rainy days, puzzles, games, toys allowed)
(4:30 pm – Mom starts thinking about and getting ready for dinner)
5:30 pm – Family Clean-up (can choose off list or just pick up toys/ stuff off of ground)
6:00 pm – Dinner
6:30 pm – Playtime (Mondays this is FHE)
7:30 pm – Get ready for bed/ family scripture reading/ family prayer
8:00 pm – Bedtime!!

Updates... way behind again. Sorry!

We went a few weeks ago and got some family pictures taken. I was going to make a slide show but haven't had time so I haven't posted anything! We have Carter's graduation to post, Spencer's class presentation, the picture slide show, and some other random stuff. Look for those to come as I have time. For now, here are some funny quotes.

Spencer was upset that we didn't have a lot of kids in the neighborhood to play with there was only one kid this afternoon that was available to play he said, "There is no one to play with except for ONE DORPY KID!" He was frustrated and upset but it was really hard not to laugh at the word "dorpy" which I am quite sure he meant "dorky."

Milestones

Yesterday was quite the day for milestones. First and foremost was the moment that my sweet baby smiled at me. She has been smiling since about 3-4 weeks old, but never looking at anyone. Then, she smiled at my Mother-in-law and then at my Sister-in-law, and then one day at my friend. I have tried and tried and tried to get her to look at me and smile, but she wouldn't. I was starting to think that she didn't like me. Yesterday, she looked at me and smiled BIG! I loved it. I grabbed my camera while she was in the same mood and tried taking pictures of her, but no more smiles. Sorry.

Less importantly, but perhaps just as exciting: yesterday my boys had twinkie for the first time. Actually I was quite proud that Spencer was 7 and only now had his first bite of a Twinkie. Before I get comments from Mom about that not being healthy... They now come in a 100-calorie pack. There are 3 mini cakes in the pack. I had one, Spencer had one, and Carter had one. So, we each had about 33 calories a piece... not the end of the world.

Quote of the day: So sweet

On Sunday afternoon, I was talking to Spencer about a friend of mine who passed away this last week. That night, in his prayer before bed Spencer said, "and please bless mommy's friend who died that he is good in heaven."

What a great kid to want to make sure that people we know are happy, no matter where they are... I love him!

Current photo fun... my sweet children!

Disclaimer: I need to add a bit about one of the photos. There is a photo entitled "Laundry Day" and is an artistic representation of a day in the life of a 4th baby... Mom didn't like that I included it - Sorry.

Quote of the day: Issues, Sir

Carter: I don't feel good today. I had issues at school today.
Me: Issues?
Carter: Yes, EVERYONE in OUR family has issues, right Mom?
Me: That's for sure!


Also, I don't want to forget this but the other day when I was on the phone with Paige, her 3 year old said to her, "Please, SIR, I need a kleenex!" It was the cutest thing I've ever heard.

Final catch up post!

Dave's last week home, after I had the baby, was Spring Break. We tried to do fun things with the kids everyday. On Monday, we took them to a really fun playground with a huge slide.I can't remember what we did the other days. But I know there was kite flying one day. On Friday, Dave took the oldest 3 kids to Harper's Ferry. They seemed to have fun!Friday night, we celebrated Miana's birthday with ice cream sundaes. I can't believe she is 2!

Sunday was Easter, here are their baskets. The next Saturday, the boys started soccer. Carter was too sick to play (fever) so he had to wait until the next week to play. Here are some pictures of both boys...

Catching up!

So much happened after bringing #4 home from the hospital, it has been hard to find time to blog. I use my blog as a journal for myself so there are many things I want to document that might be boring for everyone else. Sorry, but here goes.

Tayla had some trouble gaining weight the first few weeks so we took her to the doctor for weight checks every 2-3 days. At the 2nd one, she hadn't had enough poopy diapers and was still very yellow, so the doctor sent her to the hospital to check her bilirubin levels. Everything came back normal and I continued nursing and supplementing with formula. Finally, at 4 weeks old she was back up to her birth weight... yay!

On Monday, April 6, I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up with a strange pain on my right side. I went up to bed and woke up in the night needing to use the bathroom. When I stood up I felt a huge gush. I went into the bathroom I found that my underwear was completely covered with blood. When I stood up, there was so much blood in the water I could not see the bottom of toilet. It was scary. I thought I should wait an hour and see if the bleeding continued before I called the doctor. When I next got up, there was much less blood. I was still bleeding but it had tapered off, I was also passing large clots (golf ball sized). In the morning, I called the doctor and was told to come in immediately. We found someone to watch the boys (it was Spring Break) and Dave drove me and the 2 girls to the doctor's office next to the hospital. I was still bleeding, but not nearly as much. After a quick exam, the doctor drew some blood (to check my iron levels) and sent me for a sonogram to see if there was any placenta left inside (the usual cause of bleeding and clotting). I then went home. I heard nothing until 2 days later at my already scheduled incision check on Thursday. Blood work and sonogram were normal. I had to wait about a week for the bleeding to stop. 2 different doctors gave me various theories about what it was (including a period.) The one that fit the best and that I tend to believe is that it was the internal scar from incision. It forms a scab to stop the bleeding and sometimes that scab comes off before the wound has healed. This causes you to bleed and pass clots... but who knows for sure? I am fine and have not had any bleeding since.
Dave eventually had to go back to work. I dreaded that, but am adjusting. I miss being able to take naps during the day. I miss having the house clean (he's so good at that!) I miss HIM! He hasn't had to travel since the baby was born, but that is quickly coming to an end. Reality will hit big time in mid-May. He has a one night stay (May 14-15) in Detroit and then home for the weekend. Then, back to Detroit forever (I think it's 6 weeks, coming home on the weekends). I really REALLY don't want him to go. I am not ready for 4 kids alone. I know I'm not.
I think that is all I wanted to talk about here... I will post about the kids starting soccer at another time. Thanks for reading!

Grocery Store today

Taking kids to the grocery store is my least favorite activity of all. To me, the grocery store represents order. I know my life with little kids will be in constant chaos, but the grocery store has everything in rows. The rows have a category and everything in the row is organized with like items. It is order and organization in my chaotic world. Introduce children into that environment and all of a sudden bliss becomes hell. Not always, but with me and my children, it is more likely to be a horrible experience than a pleasant one.

Today, Miana first started by throwing all of the food out of the cart. Then, I got her to stop and Tayla started screaming. It was time to check out so I headed to the front. While standing in line, Miana kept standing up and trying to jump out of the cart. I had to do self-checkout because all of the lanes had several people in them and Tayla was screaming so I wanted to get out quick. The lady next to me kept trying to talk to Miana, which made her try to jump out more. Finally, I get through the process and am ready to leave. The lady heard the baby screaming the whole time and kept commenting to her clerk (they opened a new lane next to me right after I started checking out) about the baby and the toddler. She was an elderly lady (I estimate late 70s). Finally, she turned to me and said, "Is there anything I can do to help you?" I smiled and assured her that it was all easy from that point on. We left the store and I thought to myself:

You know it's been a bad day at the store when the 80 year old offers to help YOU out to your car!

Carter's Birthday Party

I hate posting out of order (chronological) but I need to post about Carter's party which was 2 days ago... I promised I would put pictures up!

All Carter wanted was a moonbounce party. I looked into several local places that have indoor moonbounce parties, although they were very fun, they ran $300-$400 for the party. Not quite what I was hoping for. I was willing to spend some money as this is Carter's biggest party that he will ever have (we do a big first party at age 5, then a smaller party at 8, one at 12, and a final party at 16, they get no other birthday parties maybe 1-2 friends allowed to do something with the family). So, I looked into renting a moonbounce, I found a reasonably priced one and reserved it. I sent out invitations to 18 kids ages 4-5 years. All week long, Carter asked if it was Friday yet. Finally, Friday morning came. At 6am, Carter came into my room, woke me up, and asked if it was time for his party yet. The party was to start at 1pm, we had a long time to go. I busily cleaned the house all morning, stopping only to feed the baby and get things for Miana and Carter. Miana worked AGAINST me the whole morning, the worst being opening a package of Ritz crackers, dumping them all over the kitchen floor, and then stomping on them. Also, I was stressing over the weather. It was supposed to rain off and on all day. It started raining at noon. Here was the radar at 10 min. to 1pm. The hand in the middle of the picture is where we live...

All day, Carter asked if it was time yet, just about every 15 minutes. At the moment I was checking radar, this happened...

He did not wake up until there were 6-7 kids here and one of the moms started singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Here is what the moonbounce looked like for the first hour...

(Yes, those are puddles of water) Finally, the sun came out and one of the moms dried it off (I'm still technically in recovery from a c-section and didn't want to rip anything)... She was a life saver!! Here are some kids jumping.

I think everyone had fun and Carter seemed to like it. I am pleased with how everything turned out in the end and I am VERY glad it is over.

Happy Birthday Carter!

Today is Carter's birthday (and Andrea's - Happy Birthday, Aunt Andrea!) In honor of Carter's Birthday, I have quote from him, from this very morning.

C: "Mom, do you know why we can't put our fingers in Tayla's nose?"
Me: "Ummm... why?"
C: "Because they don't fit, see?"

He then demonstrated that his fingers were too large to fit in the baby's nose...

Good to know...

Quote of the day: Diaper fun!

Miana has a doll that she got for Christmas. I did this in preparation for the new baby coming, I wanted her to be able to take care of her doll while I was taking care of the baby. A couple of weeks ago, I gave her one of the baby's newborn diapers to put on her doll. She thought this was great and has left it on for all this time, but has never said anything about it, well nothing more than "baby, diaper." So today, she laid the baby down on the couch(where I change diapers) and opened her baby's diaper. This is what I heard:

Tayla at home: Week 1

What did your husband get you for having a baby?

Mine got me this fancy new microwave. We used to have one on the counter. He even installed it all by himself! Way to go, Dave!

Slide Show 1: At the hospital

A quick quote for today

It's time to take Carter to school, but I had to share this quote. I just got Miana dressed in some new jeans and new shirt from her birthday...

Carter: Wow! Miana, you look goooood in those new clothes. I could hardly recognize you!

I haven't forgotten about you, dear Blog readers...

Give me a break, I have 4 kids, yes, that's right, 4. My oldest is 7. That means that I am expected to do most things in the house myself, until Dave comes home late at night. That's right, last night he got home at 9:15pm. Yes, I am looking for sympathy. It is hard to blog when I am either asleep, cleaning something, driving somewhere, holding the baby, feeding the baby, or getting things for/helping the other 3 kids... (those are in order from least amount of time spent to most)

One quick quote from today: I asked Carter to check outside and see if Spencer was watching Miana play. Carter opens the front door and yells: "Spencer, you had better be watching Miana or you will be in so much trouble!"

Look for these posts to follow: Pictures of Tayla at 1 week, a million other pictures of Tayla, My bleeding scare, Tayla's lack of weight gain, Lack of sleep, Easter, Hi Ho Hi Ho It's back to work he goes, New calling, My first days alone, and Soccer...

I am way behind on posts...

Reality Check

Yes, I want to go back on my little "vacation." While I was in the hospital, Spencer had a fever (actually, so did I, but I will get to that when I finally write down the birth story - I'm not ready to relive that yet). Anyway, Spencer was sick most of the time I was gone. We never let him hold the baby in the hospital, which was a little sad for him but he was very grown up and understanding about the whole situation. On Friday night, Dave called me and said that Spencer was complaining about his ear and wanted to know about getting him into the doctor on Saturday. They went and it was determined that Spencer had an ear infection and possibly strep throat (although she didn't test for it). He was given antibiotics and sent on his way. The baby and I came home from the hospital on Sunday. Monday, we took the baby in for a quick check up at her pediatrician and her weight was a little low. Tuesday morning, Dave started to not feel well, but had tons of errands to run. At lunch time, he left the 2 little girls with me while he picked up Carter from school and did all the stuff he needed to do. I survived the 2 hardest kids (of course, both were asleep most of the time he was gone). That night he had pack meeting and left me with ALL 4 kids for 2.5 hours. Again, I survived. Wednesday morning, Dave woke up with a horrible sore throat and again left me with the 2 little ones so he could pick up Carter and go to the doctor. The doctor did not check him for strep but gave him antibiotics just in case (our doctor is like that...) Thursday, Dave was not feeling well at all, but we had to take Tayla in for a weight check at the doctor. She was down another ounce, and was looking very yellow. We were told to supplement more often with more formula. Also, we were told to take her to the hospital to have them check her bilirubin levels. Dave did NOT want to do this, he was tired and achy and just needed to sleep. He dropped the baby and I off at the hospital and he took Miana to run errands. In the afternoon, he picked up Carter from a birthday party and he did Spencer's homework with him, all while I slept. Then he fell asleep, but only for about an hour. Last night, the baby decided to have her most horrible night ever. She was up from 8pm to 3:30am off and on, waking up anytime someone put her down. Dave took the 11:30 to 1:30 shift, she finally seemed to be asleep, so he took some Nyquil and was out. Of course, she woke up as soon as he put her in the bassinet, so I took the 1:30 to 3:30 shift. She then slept until 5:30. So I got up with her, fed her, and fell asleep in the chair with her downstairs. I woke up at 6:50, just in time to get Spencer's stuff packed up ready for school. I got him some clothes and got him off. (Dave woke up about this time and I sent him back to bed). Tayla woke up and wanted to eat. I am wondering if she will ever sleep. The other kids have needed what they needed this morning, which seems to be a lot when you are tired. Dave is awake, but looks so sick and is very tired. I don't know how much longer I will last and today is our day with the 3 little ones home all day. It doesn't help that it has been cold and rainy all week and that EVERYONE has runny noses. It just might be a day for reinforcements... we'll see.

On Vacation

Right before going into the hospital, Dave made some joking comment about me enjoying my upcoming vacation. Yes, having major abdominal surgery, being confined to a bed for the first 24 hours, and then having pain everytime you move after that for the next 2 weeks, certainly makes for a GREAT VACATION. When I got to the hospital, we were checking to see if there was internet access (for emailing pictures of the new baby) and found that the hospital's wireless is called: Guest Access. "Guest" hmmm. That's what we are called now. Hospitals don't have patients, they have guests. Also, I got to order room service everyday, 3 meals a day with snacks between. I had a really hard time remembering to call it a hospital, I kept saying hotel, completely on accident. There was an ice machine down the hall. I had people who cleaned my room daily, people who took care of me, people who took care of the baby, and people who would track down my people and send them to me if I pushed a button. I have determined that I was, indeed, on vacation.

Tayla Elaine

Tayla Elaine Tarbet
born March 25, 2009
8 lbs. 11 oz. 19.75 inches long

Sorry this took me so long to post, the hospital didn't have great internet, so it was hard to upload. Then we got home and all craziness broke out! A lot of adjustment to having 4 kids. :)