Help! We're Trapped in our House!

We've been sick since Wednesday. First me, then Benjamin, then Christian, now Kelly. Bella has luckily escaped the mess so far, but who knows, she may be next. For now she's trapped with the sick mess that we are. Coughing, vomiting, fever, headaches - we've all got our own sickness cocktails - everyone with a varying degree and variety of symptoms. Luckily the vomiting was me. Oh how I hate cleaning up kid vomit off couches and carpets. I luckily have enough experience to recognize when it's coming and make it to a safe location...well, the kitchen sink was the best I could do, but it beats the living room. So, we've been hanging out at home. Something I really hate doing. I know that sounds weird because hanging out at home should be loads of fun and all, but when you're sick and the kids are cranky, it's just not. No school, no church, no where to go, just sit at home and cough on each other. Ugh.

The one bright idea I had today was to pretend we were all germs and the basement was a giant which we were infecting. We each had names - I was "Snot", Benjamin was "Rash," Bella was "Scab," and Christian was "Pox." (Kelly was at church because his sickness didn't hit until half way through sacrament meeting. :) Now he's in bed too.) Although half way through Bella decided she didn't want to be Scab, she wanted to be Snot too, so we had the "But there can't be TWO Snots!" debate which was just so ridiculous that after all was said and done, I agreed to trade names with her. Anyway, we got our toy guns and started shooting the giant's cells (ie. walls, furniture, toys, etc.) declaring the vicious symptoms our host was developing. "Now he's coughing up brown phlem!" we'd scream. "Ooooh, he's got a killer headache!" "His nose is running so bad he's dripping on the floor and it's raw from blowing!" "Ah, he's got a fever...it's getting hot in here!" Our giant host finally succeeded in vomiting us out after debilitating us with the heat. Then we had a snack and went to bed. Another glorious day where all kids slept at the same time. Maybe there is something to be said for sickness.

So we've been doing lots of puzzles (Bella is doing 100 piece jigsaw puzzles! She's a puzzle rock star!), playing monster dog in the doll village, coloring pictures, and taking "time-outs" - the last one being Benjamin because he has the hardest time with staying home all day and tends to let it out on those smaller and weaker than he. Not cool. On that note, puzzles are like broken glass - when they get thrown around a room in anger, you're finding pieces for days to come.



In the end, we all had a big bowl of chicken soup for dinner and prayed for a speedy recovery. May our prayers be answered.

Side note: That's a headband on Bella's head and no, it's not falling down. That's the way she likes it. She won't wear it any other way. Don't even try to reason with her and tell her that her hair would stay out of her eyes better if she put it up. You'll get a headband flying at your face for advice like that. Best course of action is to consider it cute and move on. At least that's what works best for me.

The I Spy Table

When I picked Benjamin up from school today, his teacher told me, "He seems really tired today." He really did. He'd been fine when I dropped him off, but he looked like he was going to fall over on the way to the car or fall asleep on the way home. When we got home, Bella and Christian took a nap and I was able to pretty easily convince Benjamin to take one too! All three kids asleep at the same time! It can be done!! A true modern miracle. Benjamin hasn't napped for me in nearly a year and a half. So, needless to say, when it was time to go to gymnastics 45 minutes later, I decided to bag it. No way was I waking 3 kids. I got out my book, made myself comfortable on the couch and relaxed! For a whole 20 minutes until Christian woke up. Once everyone was up, there was a lot of "why didn't you wake me?" and "why can't we go to gymnastics?" questions, but it was well worth it. He obviously needed the rest and so did I.

Despite the change of schedule, we kept with our usual Wednesday craft day tradition. We always do painting and crafts on Wednesdays after gymnastics. Not sure why, but it just started that way and it works. So we did that. It was a lot of fun.



We colored on the window again because it still had our Christmas drawings up and needed a change. Bella has started drawing people a lot lately. It's fun to see them. They always have huge ears and a circle for their tummies. Benjamin doesn't draw ears on his people and she's always coming to me saying, "Benjamin not draw ears on his man. He's silly!" By they way, that's Bella's gymnastics leotard that she loves because it's got sparkles. I bought her a more modest one (the sparkle one is a hand-me-down) but even though the one I bought has rhinestones on it, she won't wear it because she likes the sparkles. Women! They can drive ya nuts.

I'm working on letter recognition with Bella lately, so today we did the letter U. We made paper Umbrellas that they got to decorate with stickers and we did a painting of "Underground" where she got to cut strips and bits of green paper which she glued onto brown construction paper, to make the grass and the dirt underneath it and then we all drew things we find in the ground: ants, worms, earwigs, spiders, etc. The kids loved it. Bella also drew a groundhog and grasshoppers...and a boat. "It's a dirt boat!" I didn't pursue it. I labeled each thing with the letter with which it starts and drew a big U in the center. By the end of it all, I took a step back and looked at my table. It reminded me of Benjamin's "I Spy" books. A huge mass of stuff strewn all over and under the table. Plus the bottle, bib, and seat Christian used while he so patiently and sweetly watched us. I had to take a picture. I think it's a testament in itself of the fun we'd had. :) In the picture, Benjamin is "sewing" a paper that he made to look like ones he'd seen at school. He punched holes around his drawing and then wanted to string yarn through the holes. I thought that was pretty cool.


Finally, unrelated to anything prior, I'd like to say something to the person who stole Benjamin's swimsuit out of the gym shower over the weekend: Seriously? Did you think I hung it there because I didn't want it anymore but was too lazy to take it to good will or throw it in the trash?? Did you stop to think of the child who is now without a suit and how he'd feel? I hope you enjoy watching your son swim in the suit which you stole. I hope your son doesn't notice the missing seam or the sun bleached sleeves and wonder why a new suit would look like that. And I hope your son never wears that suit around me because I'm prepared to make a scene.

He Rolls!

This little guy is rolling! He'll be 5 months on Friday. It's so fun to see him growing up and progressing. You could tell he was very proud of himself when he first figured it out. So happy and excited. We sure love this happy smiley guy! He's a total chick magnet too. Benjamin's question at Costco on Monday was, "Why is everyone always talking to Christian?" Because he's a total flirt. You'll love it when you're older.

Finally...Christmas!

I'm finally getting around to posting about Christmas. Wow. Time goes so quickly lately! At least the productive hours. Last night I was up 3 times with Christian and 4 times with Benjamin over the course of 6 hours. I had that woozy drugged feeling for much of the morning as a result. Those hours dragged. No idea what was wrong with Benjamin. Each time he'd call me, his blankets would be in a hideous tangled mess and he'd be sitting up in bed asking for help to sort them out. 4 times in one night! What was going on?!? A 5th time he was up, but rather than call to me, he came into my room and talked to Kelly while I pretended to be asleep. He told him his toe hurt and asked if he could come into bed. I figured that might solve our blanket issues, but it certainly wouldn't help me sleep, so I was glad when Kelly denied the request. Alas, Christian still doesn't sleep through the night consistently. It's about 2-3 times/week. Not bad, but there's definite room for improvement.

Anyway...Christmas. Our first Christmas at our house without family visiting. It was a very fun experience. We acted out the nativty on Christmas eve. I have been wanting to do this for years! Being an only child, I never did this growing up. It's really hard to fill the roles with only one kid. But this year we had two kids and a baby Jesus, so we were set! I thought we'd only do it once, but the kids wanted a chance to play every role, so we did it over and over again. My favorite version was with Bella as Angel. There's nothing like little 2 year old Bella on the back of the couch, arms raised, belting, "Hello! A baby is born! Follow the star! Go find him!" To this day, she calls this "playing knock-knock." You know, where Mary and Joseph go "knock-knock" on the door and people say there's no room here? She asked me just yesterday if we could play knock-knock again. She also loved her stocking. Although she couldn't understand how they could be "stockings" but they don't go on your feet, so all Christmas eve, she walked around with everyone's stocking on her feet.


Then Christmas morning we opened presents. As a kid I never understood how people could say that it was more fun to give gifts than receive. I always assumed they were just saying that because it made them sound righteous. But now I think I get it. I loved giving my kids stuff that made them so happy. Although, not all their favorite gifts came from me. Our parents know how to give great gifts too. Benjamin's favorite gift was his magnifying glass from Mimi.


Bella's came from me, although anyone could have guessed what would make her happy - a frilly dress up skirt and matching plastic high heels. She has been wearing them every day since. My favorite gift was a three hour nap. I had intended to 'only lay down for a minute.' I awoke three hours later. Sleep deprivation is a killer. So grateful to Kelly for keeping the kids quiet and away during that time. It was wonderful. That and the chocolate. Kelly bought me 8 lbs of chocolate! That should last me at least until next week or so. :) Kelly's favorite gift was his new tent.


He wanted a tent that fit all of us and that he could stand up in. It's a monster. There will be no backpacking with this tent. The kids had blast with it, though. Everything they did for two days, they did in this tent. We finally had to pack it up before it got destroyed prior to ever making it outside.

Now life has returned to it's normal routine. Mondays are our grocery shopping day. As many know, my kids and I can spend hours at the grocery store. There's the helium balloons, the fish, the bikes, the lobsters, the toys, the books, etc. etc...oh yeah, and the food. I always make them wait until I've gotten all the food and then if they've been good, we go do what they want. So on Monday they were in the toy aisle and I couldn't help take a picture. They had both found bikes. Benjamin had his light saber inside his front-mounted Dora backpack and Bella had decked herself out, complete with Disney Princess Backpack. They were ready to browse the aisles.



Off she went in search of the perfect toys. So adorable.

4 Months Old

Christian turned four months old last week and he's doing great. He's starting to sleep better at night, which has been a big, big blessing. We've had 3 nights this week where he's slept through until 5am. Yay for sleep!
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As for the stats: Height - 24 3/4 in (50%), Weight - 14 lbs 2 oz (25-50%)

He's a very happy baby. Very smiley, very quick to laugh. He loves his siblings and would often rather watch them play than anything else, even eat. He started eating rice cereal this week and has done better with it than my other two did. Benjamin batted at everything and refused to let me put it in his mouth. Bella made the funniest disgusted faces when she started eating solids. Christian, however, just seemed intrigued and a bit confused about what I was doing to him. Most everything went in and poured right back out, but he did manage to swallow a few times. Definitely a good sign.

We are hoping for a white Christmas. We made snow paint the other day (water mixed with food coloring in a squirt bottle) and had a great time coloring the back yard. Yesterday we went to the playground and had a blast sliding down the snowy slides and slipping off the icy merry-go-round. What we need is some more snow so we can rebuild our sad snowman that collapsed when the snow melted a bit and now lies on his back in our yard.



Bella's early Christmas present from a friend of mine: her first dress-up dress. She wears it EVERY day. Benjamin's swim goggles are an occasional accessory only, but I couldn't pass up the chance for a picture.


We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Oral Fixation and the Witching Hour

Two things have been coming to my attention more and more lately. Just thought i'd share. First: my kids are horribly orally fixated and I'm not sure if it's normal or what. Nearly any time they're alone, they pop something inedible in their mouths - legos, polly pocket accesories, styrofoam packing chips, etc. The phrase, "Spit that out!" is one of our most common phrases around here. The other day Benjamin had a lego in his mouth and I demanded he spit it. The moment it hit the floor, Bella ran by, picked it up in mid-sprint and popped it in her mouth as she ran for safety. Ewwwww! What is wrong with my children?? I have an infant, but it's my four year old that can't keep the legos out of his mouth. What is wrong with this picture? I only hope they outgrow it.


Second: the horrid witching hours from 5-7pm can sometimes we as hard as the whole rest of the day combined. Case in point - last night. I sent the older 2 downstairs to watch an episode of Kipper while I made dinner. As soon as I started to cook, Christian started to cry. So I tried to feed him, but he was squirmy and fussy and wouldn't eat. So I set him back down and went back to cooking. He cried and cried the entire time. It took me just over 15 minutes to cook dinner and he cried so hard the entire time that he puked all over himself - and continued crying! Just as I finished dinner and tried to clean him up, Bella came up to me crying because she'd finished watching tv and wanted to put on her pajama but her pajama was inside out and it was the worst thing ever and she was never going to be able to wear that pajama ever again!! So I asked her to bring me her pajama and as she does, I hear "Bam! Waaaaaa!" and in runs Benjamin, who'd decided that spinning circles in the living room would be fun - except that he was really too tired and he lost his balance and slammed his head on the corner of the piano bench. Oh the blood!!! It went all over the floor, him, me, Christian's bouncer seat, etc. It was literally squirting in an arc at times. I grabbed a dishtowel and applied pressure for a minute or two to slow it down, the whole time thinking, "Who could I call to watch Christian and Bella while I run him to the ER?" However, once the bleeding slowed, I could see that the wound wasn't big enough to require stitches. All this withtin minutes and all within the witching hours, as I've come to call them. Those hours between 5pm and bedtime (about 7:30) are the worst! I try never to be out during those hours. I got an invitation today to a playdate with a child from Benjamin's school who wanted to meet at the play place at the mall at 6pm next week! I thought she was kidding at first. Start a playdate at 6pm? Am I the only one who thinks that sounds like a horrible idea? We have more meltdowns, tantrums, and crying at that time than any other time of day. And yet I see gymnastics classes offered at 5:30pm and storytimes at 7pm. I guess working parents have to be considered, but as for me and my house, we retire at 5pm and will not be seen later than that.

Okay, off to bed, just needed to get some things out.

Sleep vs. Blogging

This is probably the longest I've gone without blogging, but I had a really good reason: chronic, debilitating sleep deprivation. Every day Bella's dolls are Mommy and Bella. Mommy is always sleeping and alternatingly screaming at Bella that "you woke me up! I'm still tired! Go away and let me sleep!" Although I don't think I've ever come off that harsh in real life, I'm definitely struggling. Being woken up 2-3 times a night by an infant, a few times during the week by the other two, and then having them jump on my bed at the crack of dawn demanding, "What are you going to make for breakfast? Will you play with me?" makes me place a much higher priority on getting to bed than posting some pictures on my blog.

Funny story some of you have already heard that illustrates how sleep deprivation affects the mind: I had a moment to myself while the kids were downstairs and I thought, "I'm hungry, I should eat something." Sidenote: studies show that people who are sleep deprived have decreased levels of chemicals that signal satiety, so they tend to be hungrier often and over eat much more than people who get enough sleep. Combine that with nursing and I'm pretty much hungry all the time. Anyway, so I'm hungry and I get some leftovers out of the fridge and pop them in the microwave. Hit the 30 second button and step away. Then I think, "I'm hungry, I should eat something." Open up the fridge again to get something and hear the microwave beep. "What's in the microwave?" I wonder. "Who put something in there?" I open it up and then I remember - the leftovers! The leftovers I'd put in there 30 seconds earlier! I'd forgotten them. This is just one of many examples I could share of how dumb I've become, but sadly I've forgotten the rest. ;)

However, setting short term memory loss, irritability, mood swings, and shortened attention span aside, I'm doing great, so I thought I'd take a quick moment and post some recent pictures.

We got a bumbo-type seat for Christian that's become our new best friend. On the floor in his bouncer seat he would cry and cry, but place him in his seat on the table (I know - don't lecture me on the dangers of falling - I never place him near the edge and he's never in it unless we're sitting at the table - I promise!) and he's happy as can be. So he's our centerpiece at every meal and pretty much any time we're doing anything there - play-doh, coloring, working on the computer, etc. He is so happy as long as he's part of the action.



Also, it snowed on Sunday and we made our first snowman and had our first snowball fight. So fun. It was amazing packing snow. It got too heavy and icy by the end of the day but thank goodness for afternoon church because it left us all morning to play. I love snow and cold.

Good News

We finally had some camera luck this week. Our camera eventually did show up at Panasonic's repair facility and we finally got what we thought was our camera back. However, as we excitedly opened the package, we discovered that it wasn't our camera - it was a better one!! My first thought was "Oh no, we're going to have to send it back again, tell them they made a mistake, and wait even longer." However, after looking into it, it was on purpose. They couldn't fix ours, didn't have another like it, so they sent us an upgrade. And what an upgrade! This new camera is worth 3 times what our old one was worth. So nice! We are so happy. So here's a few pics I excitedly took today. I took a ton more but I'm still figuring this fancy thing out so most of them are blurry/too dark/otherwise flawed. Only downside to an expensive camera - I'm going to have to be EVEN more careful with this one!!

Benjamin loves holding Christian and loves playing with him. He's such a great big brother.


Watching his sibs play around.


Bella, in her beloved apron, sneaking some of Benjamin's waffle while she sets the table.

Don't Laugh at my Pickle Nose

Now that Christian is able to hold his head up well and gives such cute smiles, I thought I'd take the kids for some professional photos. Haven't had any since Isabella was Christian's age. I also wanted some pics right now because we still don't have our camera back. (It seems to have been lost in the mail on its way to repair. Grrrrrrrr. We really have no luck with cameras.) The photographer, however, just really didn't click with my kids (ha! click! get it? I know. Not funny.) In my opinion, a HUGE part of being a good photographer at a studio where 99% of your clientele is under 10 years old, is being able to get kids to like you and laugh for you. When you see that something you're doing isn't working, you should have a huge repertoire of gimmicks and move on to something else. Our photographer had only one trick up her sleeve and that was the line, "Whatever you do, don't laugh at my pickle nose." I watched later and this line got other kids cracking up, but my kids took her at her word. She tells them not to laugh, so they don't. Stone faces all around. Instant cold shoulder. Slowly devolving into a complete refusal to even look in her direction. Yikes. I worried the session would be over before it began. Seeing that her line isn't working and that the kids are starting to get really annoyed by her, does she try something else? Does she call in someone else to help? No. She just kept saying it, over and over again, in an ever screechier, ever more obnoxious voice. You could almost hear the desperation in her voice as they stared her down. She finally came up with something new and tried the line, "Does mommy have stinky feet? Ew! Gross! Stinky feet!" Benjamin's response: "No, she doesn't." More stone faces. She momentarily left the room to grab a bean bag for Christian (and tear her hair out, I assume) and I jumped in to give them a pep talk. "I know she's annoying, but she's trying really hard to be nice and we really want these pictures to look good so we can hang them up at home. Please smile for her to make me happy, okay?" The rest of the pictures turned out better. Not great. Very few big happy smiles, but better. Thank heaven. I thought Miss Pickle Nose would doom us. Here are some of the results. My kids really are cute. Serious... but cute.

Another Year, Another Camera

I turned 33 this past weekend. I love birthdays. I love getting older. I love having the day be all about me. :) It also happened to be Halloween, so we had lots going on.

It did start out a little rough, though. Saturday morning, the kids decide play around and take pictures. Benjamin takes a few and passes the camera to Bella. Bella doesn't seem too comfortable with it and I get nervous about how she's handling it so I tell her that I think she's too little for the camera and attempt to take it away. She will have none of that and whips it out of my reach. Out of her reach too. She whips it with such force that it flies out of her hand and onto the ground with the lens still extended. Good bye 4th camera in 2 years. The day before Halloween. Two hours before the Halloween party. The previous three cameras met their demise being dropped in a fountain (by me), being dropped on the floor (that time by Benjamin), and being sat on (by Kelly) We're hard on cameras! Big thanks to Tara for lending me her camera so I at least got a few pictures of my kids in costume this year.

The day improved after that. We attended my gym's Halloween party in lieu of the one at church because the church doesn't understand that sugaring up tiny children at the time when they're normally already in bed is a bad idea. Luckily my gym had their party at 11am, so we had options. I thought my kids looked so cute in their costumes.


And that party rocked. Blow up jump houses (and a blow up dragon!),


lots of games,


pumpkin patch, crafts, rock climbing, stick-on tattoos, food, music, and a trunk-or-treat.


And what Halloween party is complete without a petting zoo?? That was weird, but the kids liked it.



In the evening Kelly and I went out to dinner by ourselves! Yay! That was very nice. And on Sunday morning Kelly got up early and decorated the kitchen, baked a cake, made breakfast, wrapped my presents, and got the kids to make me cards. I got to sleep in a bit and woke up to find the place decked out. So fun. Again, center of attention, very nice. :) No pictures of that day, obviously, but probably for the best since short hair lends itself to some major bed-head! And Kelly got me a toilet for my birthday! Just what I always wanted. No, he's not that lousy of a husband, but he did install a new one this weekend. So exciting for the kids that it might just be the secret to potty training success with Bella! She sat on it twice today - first time in a long time. Maybe that's the secret-she didn't not like toilets, she just didn't like the old one! ;)

In any case, my birthday was a success, and many friends and family sent cards, emails, and gifts, which was wonderful. I am really very blessed. 33 and mother of 3. Amazing. Now I wait patiently for my new camera.

These pics were sitting on my camera and I hadn't posted them. Benjamin is in gymnastics and last week was "family day" when the sibs and parents were allowed to come play too. The place is really cool - the best part being the pit. Benjamin was determined to find the bottom and ended up getting himself and a classmate buried.



It never ceases to amaze me, though, to see how athletic he is. He jumped, climbed, and ran non-stop for an hour. And he's really getting good in his swim class too. So fun to see him excel and to see him so happy.

The Joy of Demolition

I found this idea online and thought it looked fun - making your own wrecking ball. We created tupperware towers and destroyed them with our soccer ball wrecker. It was a bit trickier to maneuver than I'd anticipated, but Benjamin got the hang of it pretty quick and Bella did okay as long as I held the string and pulled it to the correct height and just let her swing the ball. I tried to make it educational by discussing momentum and pendulums and letting them analyze how much to pull up on the string according to where they wanted to hit the tower. In the end, though, the big fun was watching the tupperware containers scatter and then letting Bella use them as "ice skates" as she scooted across the floor with them on her feet. Yes, I washed them before the next use. ;)


We made another trip to Greenfield Village today. We were supposed to meet a friend there but her youngest took an extra long nap and she was never able to make it. (Doesn't that always happen - they nap best when you've got somewhere to go!?)


As we stood in the glass blower shop for nearly 30 minutes watching them make a pitcher, I was reminded of my experience with watching the wallpaper guy at the gym. Benjamin has a fascination with the methods and techniques of various jobs! I asked him every 10 minutes or so, "Do you want to go now?" "No! I want to stay longer!" he say, as he watched in rapt attention. "How can they DO that?!" he'd exclaim in amazement as the hot, soft glass emerged from the ovens. He could have stayed there all day. I finally couldn't stand it any longer and lured him away with the promise of a horse-drawn carriage ride. Even I have my limits.


As a sidenote, I adore the movie Doctor Dolittle - the original 1960s version with Rex Harrison, not the idiotic remake with Eddie Murphy. Somehow my kids and I got on the topic of talking to animals and I mentioned this movie. They were fascinated with the concept so I got it on Netflix and let them watch it. I thought they'd love the animals and the songs, but about 5 minutes into it (and I'd fast forwarded to the first best part), they said, "I don't like this, let's watch Diego." Stomp on my dream, why don't ya? It was my favorite movie as a kid. That and the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Pete's Dragon, which they've also previously nixed because it was "too scary." So sad. I refused to give up on a classic though, in exchange for yet another episode of Diego, so I basically pulled a "you will watch it and you will enjoy it!" stance and we watched for about 20 minutes before I tired of the whining and turned it off. I'll try again in a few years. Maybe they're too young or maybe I'm the only one who can understand the British accents. Guess I'll have to wait until they're old enough to read subtitles.

Christian's Day

Because this whole week was all about the older kids (as is every week), today I made it Christian's Day. Today we stayed home all day and allowed Christian to live on his own schedule for once. What an incredibly pleasant baby he is when he's not being woken up several times/day or being forced to wait for his milk while we sit in traffic on the freeway for an hour. I was able to feed him when he got hungry and immediately lay him down when he got drowsy and he never cried all day. He smiled and even laughed all throughout the day and we had a wonderful time giving him a bath, playing with him, and cuddling with him. Benjamin also wanted to take some pictures. This is my favorite, followed closely by his picture of Bella (actually smiling!) and his self-portrait.



School, gymnastics, swimming, etc all make a day like this impossible the other days of the week, but maybe Fridays will be Christian's day for a while. It was sorely needed.