What she's doin now

We got our first little chuckle out loud yesterday from our little bundle of joy! Ok it was more like a super happy grunt or something, but I'm going to count it because we needed someone to laugh yesterday. A little sunshine in our dim day. Oh she's cute!

The boys have Hand Foot and Mouth and it has not been fun. They actually aren't miserable at all. The misery comes with the knowledge that the virus lingers around forever and stays contagious and can manifest itself at different periods. So I'm worrying non-stop about if it's going to get worse for either of them, if or when the baby is going to get it and who else we may have given it to. Yesterday was just a hard day. We hug, kiss and snuggle A LOT around here, so having to keep my distance from the boys so I don't pick up the virus (adults can) and give it to Emery, creates A LOT of wining. Kids following me around, "hold me, hold me." Jack had a few spells yesterday where he got crying and just would not stop. I'm cloroxing toys non stop and my hands have been washed till they are dryer than a bone. So when Maybell laughed outloud it made my day.

When my dear husband got home he suggested I take Emery and go out the rest of the night to relax with shop therapy. I did. I went to Ikea. Then I went to TJ Maxx and I think it was, "bring your kids to TJ Maxx" night. I guess they didn't know I was trying to get away from kids. There was one little boy who followed his mom around repeating NONSTOP, "mom, mom, mom, mom" trying to get her attention. I was this close to screaming out, "answer your kid would you?!?! before I have a complete nervous breakdown!!" so that shopping trip wasn't therapeutic at all.

But, man this little girl is cute. She's 2 1/2 mo now and her little laugh yesterday reminded me that I ought to jot down her 2 mo milestone. 

At her apt she weighed almost 13lbs and almost 24 in long. 90% for both. Her head however, comes in 30th%. All my kids chub up pretty quickly. It's a fight over who likes nursing more, me? or the babies? I warn them, "you open your mouth and make a peep and I nurse you." They don't seem to mind!

Her head is flat on the right side, her left eye always kinda looks lazy (you can see in the picture) and she turns and holds her head to the right more. Hmmmmm

She sleeps 8 hours. I feed her then 3 hours more. Heaven.

A couple weeks ago I hung a little mobile thing over her car seat to see if she was interested and it was so awesome to watch her stare at that thing. You could just see the wheels turning, figuring out how to control those hands and get them up there. She worked hard a day or two batting at them and then she finally caught one with her hand and has been grabbing them ever since. This is one of my favorite times, when they discover their hands. They hold them up in front of their face and just stare at them as they move around. 

She is a happy baby and LOVES to be talked to. This is another of my favorites. These little conversations. We look at each other and I talk and then let her talk and she just goo's sooooo dang cute. Just like she's telling you something.

We love our little girl. We also love our little boys. When I took this picture of Maybell this morning Jack wanted me to take one of him also...

Well, I'm off to mow the lawn. Maybe the boys will stay inside and watch Spirit for the 26th time in the last 2 days.

Mothers day

Another Mothers day. 

I'm gonna be honest, not negative, just honest.....

It's not my favorite thing to sing primary songs about mothers. I'm doing the best I can and I believe in having an "ideal" to work towards, but when I sing some of those songs all I feel is guilt. "Mother dear I love you so, your happy smiling face?????" Nope, don't think my kids will tell you that. "When I am near you, I love to hear you, singing so softly".... nope not that either. "I want to mind you, I want to find you, happy and smiling because I love you." Hmmmm it all sounds nice and it's cute when the kids sing it,(for proof of that click on Ryan and Camilla's blog to see their 2 1/2 yr old sing one. It's the sweetest thing ever) but sometimes I think we need to help our little primary children know the reality of being a mother and that it's not really about having a mom who sits in a bed of roses either praying or singing sweet songs with a smiling face all day long.

Here's the reality.....

the other night Mike was at his parents helping fix a sprinkler so I was home with the 3 kids by myself. I was trying to get them ready for bed and the baby was laying on the couch screaming bloody murder, the kid normally never cries. Then Jack was crying about something and I was trying to take care of him and Ivan came over with a basket ball and had to dribble the loud thing right next to me! With 2 other crying kids! I snapped, grabbed the ball from him and chucked it down the stairs. That was smart because then he started to cry. Fun! "your happy smiling face, is such a joy to look at" I really don't think so! I ordered them off to their room. A bit later I went in and tried to explain or apologize for getting mad and Ivan said, "mom, next time you take my ball from me you outta stop and think a minute about if you are going to throw it or not and make me cry." I had to laugh a little bit.

But I feel like times like that are more often than not. I kinda feel like we need to help our kids to learn to appreciate all the hard work and emotional wear and tear it is to be a mom. Not that they should feel like it's a drag to be their mother, but just help them to be real about it and be thankful for the hard work rather than be confused about why their mom isn't depicted in any of the songs. :)

Anyway- I love my children more than I can even express. It's hard! But I love it. Ivan has been saying some great things lately. We must be frustrated about the potty at our house because apparently it's been on his mind..... we went to lunch one day and I dropped my keys. He picked them up and said, "here mom, I'll get these for you cuz I know it's hard for you to bend over. And you know what mom? I'm even gonna wipe my own butt for you, so you don't have to bend over!" Then we missed the mothers day quiz at church so I just sat and asked him the questions later that night

My mom likes to- "stay in the house and not get cold"

My mom is good at- "wiping my butt"

What I love about my mom- "she wipes my butt for me"

My mom is special because-"she lets me spit my water in the sink"

My mom always says-"wipe your butt your own self"

What is something nice you are going to do for your mom today-"stand up on the stand"

(I think with that last one he knew I was kinda sad cuz he wouldn't go up on the stand and sing with all the kids)

I wonder if we'll find that in a primary song some day?

And sometimes when Ivan does something he's suppose to or is good to Jack I'll say something like, "see, now that's the Ivan I love and appreciate." So the other day I let him have a treat or something and he said, "see, now that's the mom I love."

Motherhood is definitely an interesting time. So much joy and so much pain. Wouldn't trade it for anything though.

Blessing

I didn't take any pictures of Ivan on his blessing day. I took one quick one of the family on Jacks blessing day, but no individuals. Lucky Emery got a few shots on her big day. I promise it's not because she's a girl! Just one of those 3rd times a charm things.

My mom inherited a little dress my grandma wore when she was a baby. I wanted Emery to be blessed in it, so we put it away in a safe place, the kind that is so safe you can't find it when you need it. We are still looking for it! It was just cream colored, old fashioned and simple. I then bought one that kinda resembles it, but didn't try it on her until the week before she was blessed. I didn't like it! So my talented mother made little Maybell a dress in a couple of days time. I LOVE IT!!!! sorta wishing I would have just gone with a white ribbon instead of pink, but oh well. She was so cute.

 Mikes side

What was left of mine by the end

Then the next day Mike had a training in Salt Lake at the Grand America. I left the boys with my sister and stayed the night with him. Ahhhhh we had a great time. They had this cutest little bakery with gelato. When I saw it, I just got it in my mind that when the evening was done and we were back in our room, I'd sit in the big nice tub they had and eat my ice cream from the cute bakery.

We walked around city creek and ate at Cheesecake Factory. As fun as the evening was.... I forgot our swim suits so we couldn't swim. When we went to get our gelato the girl had just put it all away (15 min earlier than she should have) and the gold things on the side of the big tub that I thought were fountains for the water to pour out, were only big gold handles! Can't a girl catch a break? I actually wanted to fall on the floor and kick my legs around when the girl said she put the ice cream away early. I think a little tear may have escaped. When we got back to the room Mike left for a bit and came back with some ice cream!!! What a dear I have for a hubby.
Alas, we got our ice cream!

then here are just some random pictures I took a while ago. I tried my own little photo shoot in her room and of the 111 pictures I took these are the only ones that look like anything that might be cute

I had two yawning ones I couldn't decide. Just posted them both