Facts

Here are a few fun facts:

-The main water line coming into our house broke last Thursday. It flooded the back part of our basement. Servicemaster has come every day since then.

-We have 13 industrial sized blowers/dehumidifiers going.

-They are loud.

-I am excited for them to leave.

-It could have been a lot worse, thankfully we have a drain in our storage room that saved us from a full basement flood.

-Little boys and clean bathrooms are mutually exclusive.

-Little boys have bad aim. (see above)

-Ashlyn is now in a girly room, in a big girl bed.

-Out of all the kids, she was the oldest when we moved her out of the crib.

-It was overdue.

-She loves her new room.

-So do I. It makes me happy.

-I will post some pictures when we finish the boys' room and the new baby's room too.

-Jace wants to name the new baby Alyssa or Sydney, both girls he is friends with at school.

-We don't know what to name her.

-Any suggestions would be appreciated.

-Can I really only have 53 days left?

-The fourth pregnancy goes much faster than the first.

-I am getting bigger by the minute.

-I don't mind, because so far all looks good, and the little one is growing well.

-Ten years ago this month was our first date and our first kiss. They were separated by only a few days...more than two, less than ten.

-In the winter I usually only wash my hair twice a week. Is that gross? I do usually use dry shampoo one of the other days. My hair just doesn't get that greasy. Or maybe it does and I am just in denial. (That doesn't mean I only shower twice a week. That would really be gross)

-The kids and I did a 5k on Saturday for a great cause. I say "did" instead of "run" because there was no running involved. Only walking. Or I think I might have had the baby right there. Thanks to Jenna and Brennan for walking it with us.

-Fall is my favorite time of the year for baking.

-Potty training is hard. Especially when your daughter is so scared of the potty she shakes with fright every time she uses it.

-I am really excited to see HP7 on Friday. The only tickets I could get were for 10:10pm and I told my friend that we are doubling with I must be getting old because that means I will be out past 1:00, which seems really late to me.

- I am excited to do another half marathon. It is on the calender for June 11, 2011. Tim is running this one with me. I like to tease him that I will beat him, but we both know that isn't true. He is too competitive and would probably run till he died before letting me win. Plus he ran 7 miles cold turkey once with me while I was training for my last race. Who does that? Like 7 miles is no big deal.

-If you want to join us, you should. It will be a good time. Let me know and I will get you the race info. : )

-I am getting really excited for Christmas.

-I have yet to buy one gift.

-I need to get on that.

-At Jace's parent/teacher conference his teacher said he was an exceptional student and always a pleasure to have in class, I love hearing stuff like that. We let him pick somewhere to go to dinner as a reward, and he picked "the apple place" aka Applebees. All the kids loved the spinich and artichoke dip. I was just happy we made it through a sit down restraunt dinner with out any major meltdowns or spills. : )

-Braxton taught himself to do a front flip. Then he taught Jace. Brax has no fear. Unless there is a dog around.

-His big blue eyes melt me, even though I try to be tough on him every once in a while.

-Here are some pictures of the last couple months : )

One of the boys favorite things to do is set the self timer on the camera and capture amazing self-portraits. Like these two.
They were two of about two hundred.

Jace turned 7. He had a friends party, a family party, went to Village Inn for breakfast and went bowling. And he was off-track, so no school. It was pretty much perfect.

Jace was the Dark Knight Batman for Halloween. He corrected anyone who left out the Dark Knight part, which is ironic because he has never see either of the two new Batman movies.

Braxton was Luke Skywalker. He has seen that movie and he was the cutest little Jedi.

Ashlyn was a ladybug. Her favorite thing about the costume was that it came with a ladybug "purse".

We carved pumpkins and cleaning out the inside grossed her out.

Here is our pipe that caused so much drama. After we got the water turned off.

If there is one thing I will do as a mother, so help me, it is teach my boys how to take care of themselves. That includes laundry, cleaning, ironing and cooking! If they end up single, they can survive, if they are married they will be great helps to their wives. Just like their daddy.

Lesson 1 was in cooking. Yesterday Jace made this pumpkin pie with minimal supervision by me. Here it is fresh out of the oven. He was so proud of it. We called in Jace's pumpkin pie and it was really good.

-Seriously, this baby has no name. Any and all suggestions would be great : )

What every kid wants

I decided to forgo the letters to each kid for this next round of birthdays in favor of writing their birth stories. Because what kid doesn't want to be totally grossed out by reliving that moment in time. Nothing says "Happy Birthday and I love you" more than reminding them of the physical pain it took to get them here.

Seven years ago (give or take a week) Jace made his entrance into the world. I pretty much think of my life now as B.K or A.K (before or after kids). That is how much it changed me. My memory isn't always the best, but each one of those days I can remember perfectly...

First a little background. It was six days before my due date. I was dilated to a 3+(I counted it as a 4) and effaced 90%. I had been contracting every five minutes for several days but never hard enough to really get things going. So, my Dr. decided to put me out of my misery and help me along.

The alarm went off at 5:00 am that morning, and my eyes snapped open immediately. I am pretty sure I woke up every 45 minutes the night before, it was one of those times I was terrified I was going to sleep through my alarm. I sat on the edge of my bed for a minute and thought "I can't believe it is finally here, I can't believe that by the end of the day I won't be pregnant anymore and we will get to see little Caleb." (Yes, Jace was originally going to be Caleb, thankfully we changed our minds because that really doesn't fit him.) Then I smiled. I wasn't going to miss it. I felt like an elephant in more ways than one. I was huge, and swollen. I was smooth and rounded everywhere I used to be sharp and bony. I also felt like I had been pregnant for about two years...just like a pachyderm.

I showered and got Tim and my mom up. (She had flown in from Florida two days before and was the calmest one out of our group). I got my small bag, and we all headed out into the dark morning. I could feel my heart race as we made our way to the hospital. Every 4oo feet I reminded Tim to drive faster. I had heard stories of Labor and Delivery being too full to take inductions, and I didn't think me or my heart could handle being sent home. We got there and I waddled in as fast as I could. I can still remember what I wore, and it wasn't awesome. Maternity clothes have improved a lot in the last seven years. (Am I right girls? It was the era of the maternity overall...) The nurse at the desk looked at her list and told me she wasn't sure they had a room left for me. I just stared at her and started to sweat, hoping if I just stood there she would get the picture that I wasn't going anywhere. She left to consult the other nurses, and came back and told me that I was in luck, there was one more space to put me and I followed her down the hallway to check in.

I changed into my gown, set up my space and answered the many questions they needed to know before they could help me give birth. Then my nurse asked me what my pain was on a scale of 1 to 10. I said a 2. Then she asked me at what point I wanted to get an epidural. I said now. I thought, why wait for pain to show up before I try to get rid of it? The anesthesiologist came and was so kind and patient. I sat on the edge of the bed and curled around my pillow as tight as I could, trying to prepare myself for what? I wasn't sure what it would feel like which made me even more nervous. Tim was standing in front of me holding my hands, telling me everything would be okay, that I was doing great...until he got really quiet and I looked up and he was white. Well, kind of white and grey. The nurses and my mom noticed this about the same time I did and rushed him over to the other bed to lie down while they got him cookies and juice. Meanwhile, I got to get a huge needle shot into my back and no one offered me so much as an ice chip. I haven't let him forget that. Just ask him.

After it was in though, the epidural was heavenly. It calmed me down, I relaxed. Tim recovered (he said he didn't see the needle, he just thought about it and it made him light headed), the doctor came in and broke my water, and we were on our way. My mom (an RN) monitored all the machines and beeps and assured me everything was looking great. We even watched a movie (Father of the Bride, my choice...and really if there was ever a time for it to be my choice I am pretty sure it was then), my mom braided my hair to keep it out of my face and we even took little naps.

My nurse came in regularly to check on my progress, which she said was coming along nicely and it was all going pretty great. Until it hit me. I hadn't felt anything below my waist for a while but suddenly I was hit with the intense feeling that I had to get to the bathroom, and NOW. I told my mom and Tim, they had to get me there, carry me, whatever, but I had to go now. As in like now. My mom kept trying to tell me that I was probably just feeling pressure from the baby and she called my nurse in. I was practically in tears, trying to tell anyone and everyone to please take me to the bathroom. The nurse came to check me and seconded my mom, I didn't need to go to the bathroom but I was completely dilated and was feeling pressure from the baby, so it was time to get ready to start pushing. I got excited, thinking it would only be a little while and I would finally get to see my baby boy. It was almost over! My excitement turned to confusion when, after they got the stirrups out and everything set up on the bed, the nurse sent Tim up by my head to hold my hand and count and my mom held my other hand and told me everything was looking great, then the big moment came to push, but the doctor had yet to make an appearance. I remember saying, "Ummm is the doctor here? Should we wait for him?" The nurse looked at me with what I now know was a pity smile, and said I might have to push for a while, and she would make sure the doctor was here in plenty of time.

So we started. I pushed and pushed and pushed. Tim had two jobs. Push the handheld epidural button every 11 minutes because I was not about to have it start to wear off during what I was sure was the most painful part, and count to ten every time I pushed. After two hours of pushing, I was sweaty, my arms were shaking from the muscle strain, and I gave Tim a look that said, "for the love of all that is holy, start counting faster or I will lose it." Thankfully Tim could read my mind and tried to subtly speed up the counting. After a few times the nurse noticed and told him to slow it back down. She is lucky that I had no use of my legs or I would have kicked her.

After another forty-five minutes of me pushing, and my mom and Tim telling me how great I was doing, but no baby, I was about to quit and resign myself to the fact that my baby would just have to grow up inside of me, when in walked the doctor. Then I knew we were in business...finally. For real. Another ten minutes of pushing and, all of a sudden, he was here. I was looking at him for the first time. My little boy, who I loved so much already, was there, pink, and crying. And I was crying, because I couldn't believe he was mine. Ours. Tim was holding my hand and kissing my cheek and looked close to tears too. And it was beautiful, and spiritual and wonderful welcoming him to his life on earth. And it changed me. Permanently and deeply.

I read somewhere the other day (sorry i can't remember where to give proper credit), that as a mother the love you feel for your child is so intense it can be uncomfortable. As I have watched my little Jace grow and learn and experience things, good and bad, over the last seven years, I can tell you how true that is. Amen. It is uncomfortable, because you love them so much you want to protect them from everything, but you know you have to let them learn and experience things, and grow. And it can be hard, and painful. But for as many uncomfortable moments as there are, there are more sweet moments. So sweet that just thinking about them now pulls on my heartstrings and bring tears to my eyes. Jacer-boo, Happy 7th Birthday. I love you, be-bop.

Stuff Kids Do: A Pictorial

My life pretty much centers on my kids these days. I do other things, but it seems like my main focus is making sure they are clean, feed, clothed (preferably in things that match, some days as long as the clothes are on I am happy), happy and staying out of trouble. I am lucky that I get to stay home with them and see all the little moments they have (good and bad). So, here are some of those moments in my usual stunning photography. (on a side note: I have been wanting a better camera. A fancy DSLR. I am convinced my pictures will be better. Or if I am a bad photographer will they be bad no matter what? Anyone?)

Ashlyn likes Mickey Mouse and friends a lot. She also likes to jump on the trampoline and mess up her hair. So she looks like a little ragamuffin. A cute one. (I just typed ragamuffin, I feel old. I am pretty sure only old people say that)
Jace does stuff like decide it is his current life's ambition to be featured in the LEGO club magazine. You have to build your own creation and send your picture in. The day he decided that was something he wanted to be a part of, he built approximately one million original LEGO things. And had me photograph each. and every. one. Don't tell him I haven't submitted any of the photos yet.

Braxton decided it was also his life's ambition because if it is good enough for Jace, it is good enough for him. And he pretty much likes to do whatever Jace is doing.

Isn't summer great? I love the days it is hot enough to play in the water and so do my kids.

The slip n' slide was a favorite this year. Jace was a pro and could get all the way to the end. I remember when I was a kid (probably about Jace's age, maybe a little younger) I couldn't get to the end of our slip n' slide so I would lay on it on my back and my dad would pull me to the end by my arm. I loved it. Thanks dad. I am sure that was tiring.

Ashlyn was never brave enough to actually get on the slide when the boys were using it, but she loved to stand in the spray. And cheer for them when she thought they did good. She is their biggest fan, until they treat her like a little sister. Then she lets them know who is boss. (and it is her.)

It rained really hard the other day and Jace was at school and I was feeling lazy, so I sat on the front steps and let the two little ones run through the rain. They thought I was the best mom ever. (Braxton's exact words) And I thought, I am too busy and I should let them do stuff like this more often. So we played all day. Then the next morning Jace had nothing clean to wear, and I remembered why we don't play all day. The end.

Jace started first grade about six weeks ago. It was much harder for me than him. Just an FYI for moms with younger kids than mine, kindergarten is awesome. First grade is the worst. Jace has really liked it, but I miss him. It is a long day and he still seems too little to be gone for seven hours at a time. Braxton has gone through withdrawals too, the first week he asked me when it was time to get Jace at least once an hour. Jace has done great though. He even got a note home the other day from his teacher saying how impressed she was with what a good student he is and how kind he has been to one of the new kids in their class. I read it when he acts like a punk at home. : )

Since Jace is in school all day, Brax spends alot of his time with me and Ashlyn. We are domesticating him. He helped me bake a HUGE batch of zucchini bread the other day. And he liked it.

Ashlyn likes to paint and color me pictures. Lots of them. She averages like 25 pictures a day. She is always coming up to me and saying " Wets paint mom" (She can't say her l's or r's, its cute) It makes her really happy. She wants them all displayed too. We have compromised on one masterpiece per child at a time on the fridge.

This is what happens when Ashlyn finds scissors. She decides to destroy her brothers' game. She is such a good little sister.

This is what happens when the boys wrestling gets crazy and they bang into a wall. Then the picture on that wall falls off and cracks the baseboard. Then they both look at you with very guilty faces.

This is Ashlyn's current favorite hobby. Coloring on our walls. With the boys, I would make them scrub it off themselves and they hated it and usually never did it again. Ashlyn loves cleaning it off. I don't know which part she likes more, the writing or the cleaning. So I started putting her in time out when she does it. She just can't help herself though. Last time she colored on the wall she came and climbed in our time out spot herself after, without me even saying anything. I am not sure what to do with her.

Aren't kids great? Tim and I sure think so. Which is why we are having another one. It is another GIRL and she will be here at the beginning of January. We are excited for another one. We all thought it was a boy, except for Ashlyn. She was SURE it was a girl and would take on the boys when they told her they didn't think so. She was right. It has done nothing to help hold her little diva ego in check. : ) I am excited we get to even things out. I love all my little ones and can't wait to see how this new little one will fit in!

Hiatus

Did I mention that I was taking a little hiatus from my blog? No? Oh, that's because I didn't know either. In my last post (you know, way back when) I mentioned I was going to become a runner. After that I started running, and realized how slow I really was. And that I needed to run a lot more in order to finish that half marathon in the six hours the city had allotted us. So, I did. I started running more which took up my little bit of blogging time.

Then for Valentine's Day Tim took pity on my poor, blind eyes and set up PRK surgery to fix them. It was amazing. From 20/750 to 20/20. I haven't been glasses or contacts free since elementary school and it is great. The only downside? Through March and April everything somewhat close to my face (books, the computer screen...) I saw double. I didn't check my email for like 2 months and had 512 unread messages when I finally did. I am pretty sure I deleted them all since it seemed overwhelming. Sorry if you sent me an email around then.

What finally kicked me down to the computer to blog again though was Ashlyn's baby scrapbook/book. I found it the other day in my kids memorabilia cabinet. It was sad. The only reason I knew it was her's was because it was mostly pink and I only have one girl. I have not even written her dang name in it. I realized my poor kids only have this blog to preserve their childhood memories. This and the millions of jumbled picture files on my computer. This seems slightly better since I at least write something. So, I have a renewed dedication to blog. (I am sure all one person who reads this just cheered.) No more hiatus. And to get us caught up, here are the last few months in pictures.

First things first, me. (Just kidding, this is just in chronological order)

I ran (and finished) the half marathon. It was awesome. I didn't even get picked up by the lag wagon. Here I am at the finish with my medal to prove it. (Don't mind Jace, he is 6 and a boy. He thinks every picture is better with a silly face.) My time was 2:09 (thats hours people, not minutes) and I really did love it and can't wait to do it again. I must have looked like I was having fun too, because a lot of my family that came to watch said they want to run it with me next year. Maybe one day when I don't have anything to write about I will tell you about how I lost the starting line. Its a good one and makes me look reaaallll smart.

Tim turned 31. This was his favorite present. This and the season tickets he bought "us". I love him. He is the greatest and I never get tired of telling people that. And listing all the reasons why. You can't tell him though, I don't want him getting a big head or anything. And I am pretty sure the secret is safe with us here. I still don't think he has found this blog.

Here is Jace in April (it was still freezing here) getting ready to fly his new kite. It was great until his little brother ran his kite over to show him and they got all tangled up in the sky. Then they crashed to the ground. Little brothers. He lost his first two teeth Easter weekend, which was a very big deal around here. He had his first field trip today, which was awesome except when he reached up to scratch his head and ended up scratching the bee that landed there instead. It stung him right on the fingertip. It was bad news because he has already been stung several times and is terrified of bees. He took it like a man though and only shed a few tears before his teacher came to the rescue with a band-aid. His last day of kindergarten is tomorrow and then in three weeks he starts first grade. Which is all day. Which makes me feel sick. Is he old enough to be there for seven hours? Really? (Don't answer that.)

Here is Braxton on his fourth birthday. He got a cool new big boy bike. He loved it until he fell off and then he wouldn't ride it for a month. He just pushed it around the neighborhood. Just this week he got up the courage to get back on. He moves at his own pace no matter what anyone says and I love that about him. He had an awesome birthday because this was the first year he got a friends party. He had lots of fun and he was so cute with his little friends. He has learned how to write his name pretty well and says the funniest things. I need to write them all down and that can be a post all by itself. Things like "Why am I so fun mom? I am always really fun to play with but some people are no fun. I feel sad for them."

Our little princess Ashlyn turned two. Her day was magical because she got another baby. She named it Alive to go with her other baby Drink. Yes, she has great taste in baby names. I am pretty sure she will end up as a Hollywood star one day based on this fact alone. Her kids will fit in great with all the other kids who have weirdo names out there. She is really sweet and has everyone here wrapped around her tiny little fingers. She is my only child that still likes to snuggle with me so that gets her points. She is also really excited to see me whenever I come home and hugs me and says "I missed you mommy. I soooo glad you home" She wants to paint her toenails purple and she loves to play prince and princess. I always have to be the prince. I am glad I have my ladybug.

At the beginning of June we went back to Cancun. I know rough life right? I like to wear my kids out all morning in the pools so they would do this in the afternoon. Jace even napped a few times and he never naps. Ever. We had a really fun time. So fun that I took almost no pictures of it. You will just have to trust me. There was a lot of swimming, eating, drinking pina coladas (N/A), and more eating. And did I mention eating?

The pictures I did take were really good too. Like this one where Braxton is trying to drink the pool water while Jace is mad because I caked his sunscreen on like a mask.

Here are my two little sillies and the sand castle they built. I know it looks slightly like a pornographic castle but they don't. So its okay.

And here is Ashlyn "helping" me make a Father's Day cake. She loves her some chocolate.

So, that is more or less, our last few months. They have been fun. I'm not running 25 miles a week anymore so I should be able to keep this up on a more regular basis. All I have to do is set that empty baby book out where I can see it.

Becoming

Is it already February? All I can say is, yahoo. One month closer to bike-riding, park-going, play outside everyday fun.

Merry Christmas! I know it isn't Christmas but what better way to take your mind off the mid-winter blahs than to reminisce about some better, more sparkly winter days.

Christmas Eve. We finally had some good snow and the kids decided it was a great time to play in it. Ashlyn had never really played in the snow. She couldn't walk until the end of last winter and so she missed out. She was a little skeptical at first but seemed to like it as long as she was in the sled.
Tim the reindeer. I almost felt bad for him running around the backyard pulling two sleds again and again, until I remembered how he left all his Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve and was gone most of the day. He got back from shopping and went straight to sled duty at the behest of four eager kids.

The kiddos plus one locked-out neighbor friend.

These two were perfect partners. Neither liked going very fast, they didn't want to be tipped over or fall out of their sled. None of those things happened, so they were happy.

I wish I was a better photographer.

Christmas was great for a lot of reasons this year. 1) No one stayed up all night crying like last year 2) We all got to sleep in our own bed which I think solved problem #1 and 3) Everyone was healthy and happy and it was just fun.

Ashlyn even recognized Santa and would shout "Santa!!" every time she saw him (in person, on TV, in a book, any elderly person who had white hair). She also watched the "baby Jesus" movie every day for a month (by request) just to keep things balanced. : ) She was really excited to open her things Christmas morning. She got a kitchen with food and some babies with all the gear. Sometimes she mixes the two and puts one of her babies in her fridge for a while. She is such a good mommy.

All of Jace's dreams came true in the form of a Wii left by Santa. It was for him and Braxton, and as you can see Braxton was just as excited. (Jace really was excited even though he doesn't look it there, maybe he was in shock or something.) It hasn't disappointed and they are still just as excited about it as they were on Christmas morning.

Jace is six. He says a lot of funny things. Like one day I decided to try and bring a little of the gospel into our conversation while I made dinner. Here is how it went:

Me: Jace, where do you want to go on your mission? Remember when you are 19 you can go on a mission almost anywhere. Daddy went to Ukraine and Grandpa went to Japan, and Papa went to some other states here in our country. Where do you want to go?

Jace: I already know where I am going on my mission, mom.

Me: Really? (I was thinking, maybe I'm not doing so bad after all, maybe he has thought about this on his own, or had some spiritual prompting or something)

Jace: Yeah, I'm going to outer space.

Me: Wait, what? Outer space? (Crap. No spiritual prompting there)

Jace: I'm just kidding mom. I'm just going to Mars. With R2-D2.

Me: Alright, well make sure you tell me before you leave.

Clearly, we were talking about very different kinds of missions. Me: church mission, Jace:Star Wars mission. Oh, well. : )

Here is my little monkey Brax. He likes to ask me awkward questions at embarrassing times. Like when we went to get the oil changed in the car and he saw one of the mechanics smoking outside, he yells "Mommy, look at him, he is smoking!! Is he a bad guy or a stranger?" (The two worst things you could be to Braxton.) Then in the same week at Wal-Mart he asks me in front of a hostile looking checker "How do some people get really fat and I don't even get really fat? ". This is also the boy, if you remember, who asked another poor checker if he had a p****. Bless him. He keeps me humble and embarrassed.

Ashlyn is 1 going on 12. She is bossy and likes to be in charge of her siblings. She really is my daughter. She usually has a baby or two close by that she is "taking care" of and she is talking in little sentences now. She wants to wear my all my jewelry and be in charge of my make-up. She is my shopping buddy when the boys are at school and seems to love Target just as much as I do. I am so glad I got my little ladybug.

I started the new year off by turning 29. (the title of this post is about to make sense) I had a great birthday. It made me think about my twenties, since this is my last year in them. My twenties have been big for me. I have become a wife, a college graduate, a mother (three times), a daughter-in-law, a friend to new people, and a resident of four different states, among other things. All that thinking made me want to leave my twenties with a bang. To do something big this year. I started thinking on a pretty grand scale. Go on a European tour, see the Great Wall of China, go back and start my Masters degree. Then Braxton called for me to wipe his bum, and I came back to reality and started thinking a little more practically. I thought about five minutes and came up with running a race. Then in the next five minutes I signed up to run a half-marathon, complete with non-refundable registration fee. So, I will become one more thing in my twenties: a runner.

When I tell people what I am planning to do they always ask the same thing, "Oh, are you a runner?" I ran cross country and track in high school, but that was a decade ago, so I say no. Plus, I weighed in at 92 lbs. my senior year of cross country. How hard could it have been to run my tiny little 92 lb. body around? Not hard. Three kids and many pounds later, I am ready to be a runner.

I have two goals. 1) To run the whole thing and 2) To finish. I use the word run loosely. To me anything more than a walk is running. Me and Usain Bolt--both runners.

My next purchase after signing up was this:

and we have become good friends. I have a good routine of running and watching Supernanny on Hulu so I get in shape while I get tips on becoming a better mother. Win-win.

If you have ever wanted to do a half-marathon, come join me. I will even email you my Half-Marathon for Beginners training guide I printed off Google. Come on, you know you want to.