Two Years Too Fast

Alex turned two years old on Monday. Crazy.......crazy. We are so grateful to have Alex in our family. He gets into EVERYTHING these days - much more than a handful, he is a truck full. He knows what he wants, and he goes after it, no matter what he has to climb, or what mess he has to make, or how sneaky he has to be to get it. But he is SOOOOOOO much fun too! He loves to dance, he loves to be silly, and he gives the best hugs. He brings us so much JOY, sometimes it overflows. Her is a look at our last two years with him (going backwards), starting with the picture of his birthday present. We love you Alex!

At Cora's baptism

Mmmmmm, chocolate.

Sunday Afternoon

"Helping" Dad

"Helping" Mom?

American Fork canyon

Swimming at Goodfellow

Swimming in the Toilet

Halloween Pooh

Happy Baby:)

Mmmmm, milk.

Oooooh so cute!

The first time ever I saw your face...

Sorry, were you expecting an ultrasound picture?

I AM

I am: a daughter of God, a wife and mother, a Woman.
I think: that Utah is the greatest place to live.
I know: that I could be happy living anywhere in the world, as long as I'm with my family.
I want: to learn Spanish well enough to have a conversation with Joe, and not be totally and completely lost in a spanish-speaking country.
I dislike: rude drivers - You're not the only one on the road, ya know?!
I miss: the mountains. They make the air smell better, and they sure are nice to look at. I could say the same thing about the ocean.
I fear: that I'm just not doing good enough.
I feel: grateful for each day that I get to start anew and try harder.
I hear: "Hey there Delilah" by The Plain White T's, and I'm wishing I could play the guitar.
I smell: nothing - I have allergies and I'm all stuffed up.
I crave: Rocky Road icecream with toffee bits in it. Doesn't that sound good?
I cry: at the same sad movies EVERY time I see them.
I usually: take too long to make new friends, but I am loyal to the ones I have forever and ever.
I search: for healthy recipes that actually taste as good as the fattening ones, and don't use weird ingredients that I've never heard of.
I wonder: what this world would be like if everyone actually took responsibility for their choices.
I regret: that I'm not more patient with my kids, and that I am often too "busy" when they want to do something with me.
I love: the way that Joe makes me feel loved every minute he's with me, and the new hair styling cream gel that I found (in that order).
I care: about this country and what is happening to it. I try very hard to educate myself politically (and historically), and I want to be a better voice.
I always: take a very long time to brush my teeth, floss and rinse. I figure if I'm going to do it, then I'm going to do it right. I still get a lot of cavities.
I worry: that we will miss important events in our families' lives because we live so far away - we already have.
I am not: going to do the PTA newsletter next year. That's the plan.
I remember: a time when everyone was quiet in a library. What the heck happened?
I believe: that Clorox wipes are a great invention, and I used them like they're going out of style.
I dance: At the end of a movie to the music playing during the credits - if it's good dancing music. Not in a theatre though, just at home.
I sing: everywhere but the shower. I think it's weird to sing in the shower.
I don't always: write thank you notes.....okay, I Never write thank you notes, not even for my wedding gifts. THANK YOU, okay?!
I argue: with radical left (and right) wing nuts on TV, but they can't hear me.
I write: poems. Usually late at night when I'm about to fall asleep, and if I don't write them down, then I forget them by morning.
I won: a whole basket of Mary Kay products, probably worth $300. I've used Mary Kay on and off for almost 15 years.
I lose: my chapstick all the time, and have to buy more. I am sure that there must be 50 tubes of chapstick hiding around my house. Maybe I'll find them when we move.
I wish: that I could live anywhere in Europe for a year.
I listen: to commericals and analyse them. In another life I must have been in advertising.
I don't understand: how I was able to watch only MSNBC through the entire election process and still not vote for Obama:) I am grateful to have FOX news now.
I can usually be found: at home. I like the people there:)
I am scared: that anything bad will happen to my kids. But I try not to think about that.
I need: a better mattress. The one we have is okay, but I want a great one - one that would be great if I was sleeping beauty, and when I was finally kissed awake, my back wouldn't hurt even though I'd been in bed all that time.
I forget: people's names, appointments, activities, and other such things
I am happy: because I choose to be, and because that's the whole point of life.

It's Not a One Wipe Job

Well, it's been a few days since it happened, and I have time to come to terms with it. What happened, you ask? I will tell you. We decided to treat ourselves, and we went to eat at a restaurant as a family. The restaurant will go un-named, so as to prevent them from kicking me out the next time we go there. We had a good time, and as dinner came to an end, we realized that Alex was stinky. I volunteered to changed him. I went into the bathroom, put him up on the changing table, and then realized that the "stinky" was oozing out the bottom of his pants, and onto his shoes. Diarrhea had reared it's ugly head. Of course, I am a mother of four, and this was not my first time, and I confidently rummaged through my purse for the diaper and wipes. Heaven help me, I only had one wipe left. ONE!!!It wouldn't put a dent in this job! A quick look around the bathroom told me that they didn't have paper towels, only the hand dryers. First, I panicked, but then I switched it into survival mode. Just then, someone came into the bathroom. I just stood there, mentally preparing my plan of attack. I did not need an audience for this. The second she left the bathroom, and I rocketed into motion. There were two large garbage cans in the bathroom, one of which was nearly empty. I grabbed the garbage sack out of that one, and dumped the contents into the other can. This garbage sack was huge, like 40 gallons or something. As quick as I could, I stripped Alex of his pants and shoes and threw them in the sack. Then I picked Alex up, and put him in the sink, took his diaper off, and threw it in the garbage can. I then proceeded to give Alex a "bath" in the sink. At this point Alex started screaming, and I started praying silently that nobody would walk into the bathroom. Can you imagine!? When he was all clean, I used the one wipe I had to "dry" him off, because, as I mentioned before, no paper towels. I pumped a whole bunch of soap into my hands and "scrubbed" down the sink to sanitize it the best I could. Then I took the huge sack with the offending materials in it, and ripped off the top two-thirds of the sack, so that it would actually semi-fit inside my purse. I did all of this in a matter of a couple of minutes, and when all was done, I grabbed Alex, now only in a T-shirt and diaper, went out to the family, and stated firmly that it was definitely time to go. Oh the joys of parenthood!:) Perhaps you would have handled this differently. Maybe you would have just left him in his stink, strapped him in his carseat, and taken care of the mess at home. Perhaps you thought you would have used wads and wads of wetted down toilet paper. Or maybe you would have taken it a step further and gave him a "bath" in the toilet (for privacy purposes - toilets water's clean, right?) Who knows what you would have done. Joe said I was a warrior, and commended me for doing what had to be done in the heat of the moment. In any case, we survived, and came away with a funny story. As a finale, when we got home Alex "helped" me unload the dishwasher (which is one of his favorite things to do). Only this time I wasn't with him, and he got all the silverware that was still dirty in the dishwasher and put it away in the drawer with the clean silverware. He finished off the night by falling asleep UNDER his crib. It was a full day, and his mission to search and destroy continues.

Things that Happened since my Last Post

1. We have had lots and lots of wind. Our poor tree in the front yard never takes the wind well, and has lost another 4 or so large branches. It gets worse and worse every year, and now it's just pathetic. We had been wondering if we should just cut it down, and plant two new trees in the front. I think the answer was blowing in the wind my friends. In other wind news, the field trips to the park this week consisted of children almost being blown away, and otherwise being pummeled by dirt and sand.

2. Cora asked me to cut her hair, and we think it turned out pretty cute. JT saw it and said, "It kind of looks like your old hair, but it's shorter." Very astute.
3. I got my hair cut too (picture not available at this time). It's short, to my chin. I used to get highlights in my hair, but it just made my hair dry and frizzy, plus it's just too expensive to keep up with. About a year ago, or maybe less, I decided to grow all the hilights out, and just go with the new natural hilights coming in (i.e. white hairs). I was down to the last few inches of old frizzy hair at the ends, and now they're all gone. Free at last

4. I had an enrichment activity and Joe had a presidency mtg., so the kids went to the nursery they had provided for the enrichment activity. Cora was pretending to to be the queen; rightfully so, since she was the oldest one there. They were all eating cheese and crackers. Cora was trying to tell the young kids what to do, but was frustrated that they were not giving her the royal treatment she deserved. Finally she gave up and said, "Fine, I'm moving to a new kingdom, and I'm taking my cheese with me!" Love it.

5. Sicknesses and/or Wounds include the following: Alex lost another fingernail from the finger he smashed in the door on our trip. Four out of six of us are suffering from allergies (every April - thanks West Texas), and I have it the worst. Madelyn tipped over with her chair, somehow got her foot stuck in it, and gouged her toe pretty good (full recovery pending, but I don't think it's broken). Alex broke JT's glasses (that counts in this category because it wounds my wallet). And speaking of my wounded wallet, it may never recover because we all went to the dentist, and we all need a lot of work. We've already paid out more than makes me happy, and we have yet to pay enough to kill me.

6. We thouroughly enjoyed conference last weekend, and felt like all the talks were directed specifically to us. We hope that you were able to get something out of them anyway.

Baptism - Yes!....Vacation - Not so Much.

So we're back from our "vacation". My real idea of a vacation is care-free, relaxing, fun, fun, fun, and when you get back you feel refreshed and rejuvenated. A one week trip to Utah from Texas has difficulty meeting these requirements. There just isn't enough time. We didn't get to go up American Fork canyon. We didn't get to go to Temple Square. We didn't get to even see any of our friends. We didn't have enough time with any of our families. But we did have some fun, and we did get to go to the temple TWICE, and I don't want this to be a negative post, because the reason we went to Utah in the first place was to get Cora baptized, and we did, and that was the very best part. We were blessed to have most of our families there (and we missed the one's who couldn't make it). My mom and Joe's mom both gave wonderful talks, and everyone felt the spirit so strongly. We had a delicious lunch with everyone afterwards (thanks to Joe's mom). Cora was beautiful in her white dress, and it matched how beautiful she has always been on the inside. We are so proud of Cora and the amazing person she is. Cora is the most loving, caring, generous person. She always is thinking about others, and helping others, even when it means sacrificing what she wants. The older she gets, the more I enjoy and appreciate everything about her. We are so grateful to have Cora in our lives. We love you Cora!

Are We There Yet?

So, we're here in Utah for a quick vacation, which I will post about later. For now, let me tell you about the looooooong road here. The plan was to leave on Friday. I started to get sick on Tuesday - sore throat. By Wednesday I was in bed - really bad sore throat and just feeling crappy. I figured I could afford one day in bed, and it wouldn't put me too far behind in packing and cleaning. On Thursday I could barely talk, my throat hurt worse than it ever has before, and my entire body was aching. I went to the doctor. Not strep, just a virus. He gave me a bunch of medicine. To stop the pain in my throat he gave me this gel stuff. Not a liquid, but a thick gel like the kind you put in your hair to style it. I have never experienced ingesting anything so horrific. I'm sure it was partly due to the fact that I was so sick, but I actually started crying after I took that gel stuff. Nasty, horrible, bad, bad, bad. But it worked instantly. The pain in my throat was gone. And after taking 800mg of ibuprofen, I started feeling okay. This was Thursday night. By that time my house was a complete disaster, and I hadn't even gotten the suitcases out of the closet yet. I thought, well I'll just have to go full steam tomorrow so we can get out of here when Joe gets home from work. Well, that night Joe started complaining of a sore throat, and to make matters worse, I got a whole new kind of sick. I literally did not get any sleep that night because I was in the bathroom the whole night throwing up. Early Friday morning Madelyn started throwing up too. I was so sick to my stomach, and I was soooooooooo weak. I got out the suitcases and tried to start throwing clothes in them, but after only a couple of minutes I had to lie down. Joe, took a long lunch, and even though his sore throat had gotten worse, he took care of me and the kids, and started cleaning up the house. Then he left, but said he'd get off work early so that he could pick up the older kids from school and start packing and cleaning more. I didn't know how we were ever going to make it. But wouldn't you know it, about a half an hour before Joe got home, I started feeling better. By the time he got back with the kids, I was mostly done packing. Everyone pitched in cleaning up, and we actually left the house by 5:30pm on Friday, just like we had planned! What a miracle - but the story doesn't end there. The first 7 hours of the trip should have only taken us 5. Three out of our four kids got sick and threw up. Not car sick, but the sick that I had apparently infected them all with. I lost track of how many times we had to stop. After one of the times that we stopped to clean up and changed someone's clothes, Joe and I burst out laughing (because it was either that, or start crying) and we wondered what would be next. I said, "I wonder if Heavenly Father is having a little giggle at our expense right now.....'cause it's kind of rude" Anyway, we decided to drive straight through instead of getting a hotel, which maybe wasn't the smartest idea since we were both so tired. But we made it to Manti on Saturday afternoon, and no one died - but the story doesn't end there. By the time we got to Manti, Joe was really in a lot of pain. We ended up making an ER visit, and he got his own dose of that gel stuff. Also on Saturday, Alex fell on his face and got a bloody nose, fell down the stairs, and got his finger smashed in the door (and I do mean SMASHED! - I thought we were going to have to make a second ER visit). And so we come to today (Sunday), the first real day of our vacation. It has been relaxing, peaceful, and sick/accident free. It's been everything a vacation should be. So here's to the rest of our vacation, and to hoping that it's just like today. Stay tuned for the rest of the story.

School Days

JT had a field trip last week, and I tagged along. I like going on field trips with my kids; it's good one-on-one time.....in a big group:) But I also sometimes feel like I HAVE to go on field trips because I get just a little paranoid about my children coming back safely. But chaperoning field trips just makes me more paranoid because I see how unorganized they can be sometimes. Shouldn't field trips have the Most organization? I don't mean to critisize teachers here. They deserve so much more credit than they get, and I'm so grateful for all they do. But if I was a teacher, and taking a large group of children off of school property, I would make sure that my time was detailed down to the minute. None of this wandering around and deciding what you're going to do once you're already on location. Disorganization is the path to the dark side. Disorganization leads to confusion. Confusion leads to losing children. Losing children leads to fear. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate leads to suffering.

I'm sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, the field trip. JT had a field trip to the fair last week. It's all here in pictures. Cute pictures - Cute kid. He fed the animals for about two seconds, then got scared when a mini-goat jumped up on him, and he gave me the cup of carrots to feed the rest of the greedy little things. They're so cute! Sure, they smell a little, but who doesn't, right? I actually love the smell of fair grounds and farms. Mmmmmmaneur! I also love the smell of wood. That has nothing to do with this post though. So we saw all the cute animals, and the robot that's always at the fair, and we had lunch, and that was about it. Were you expecting something more? No, that was it.

This week Cora had a report due on a famous person from history. She chose Christopher Columbus. Then a couple of days later they had a Live History Museum, and all the kids had to dress up as the person they had chose. Does anybody know what Christopher Columbus looks like? No you don't. I didn't think about this at the time that Cora chose him, but I'm assuming that's why nobody else chose him. There were lots of Pocahontas, and Abe Lincoln, and Betsy Ross - that's because those are Easy Costumes. But we figured something out anyway, and it turned out not so bad. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up, like Halloween. There were some really unique costumes, and I just had to take some pictures. Should I be posting pictures of other people's children on my blog? Well, they're all disguised. I'm sure that makes it okay. It does, right?

Could this post be any longer? Yes. Is it going to be? No.