Torture Rack!

How does this . . .

. . . turn into this?
(I couldn't get this photo centered. Sorry!)

We have been trying to train our youngest to sleep in a "big boy bed" for many months now. I got the great idea to train him now since we will be needing the crib in a few months for our new little sweetheart. However, this turns out to be one of the worst ideas that I have had in a while. In the beginning it was hard to get him to stay in his bed at all so he usually ended up back in the crib anyway. We have finally moved up to only having to get him back in his bed a couple times before he stays there. It is so sweet to listen to this little boy put himself to sleep. He sings, he imagines little conversations with his cars or animals he is sleeping with, he even said a blessing on the food perfectly the other night (something he refuses to do without help at meal times!), and just generally talks to himself. Don't let that sweetness fool you! We are now facing the problem of getting him to stay in his own bed all night long. He is in love with his mommy right now and every time he wakes up in the night he comes to "sleep wis mommy." Being pregnant, very large and extremely exhausted I usually allow him to stay because it is so hard for me to carry him back to his bed (though I sometimes do--I am not a terrible parent) and Paul is either too tired to wake up enough or ignores the situation if it isn't directly affecting him (which is easier now that we have a kings size bed.) So we often get up in the morning feeling like we have been tortured on the rack with no energy for the day. I have sometimes laid down with him in his own bed and tried to get him to go back to sleep there but that is no better for me in the torture department (but Paul likes it because it spares him some agony--not that he ever makes me sleep in there : )!) Therefore, we are still at square one because to save our sanity we make him sleep in the crib for a few days after a few days of torture. We don't know when this will all be worth it. We have never struggled this much for this long to make any of the other kids stay in their beds. I hope that I survive. I have an even foggier brain than my normal prego brain and have absolutely zero motivation due to this small tikes antics. Of course he never seems to feel it. He wakes up bright and cheerful, smiling and talking and laughing and even singing! Do any of you have tips for me? Help!!!!!

How can such a sweet face be the cause of so much trouble and agony?!
(Those of you who know him probably aren't surprised, huh?)

Easter Photos

Easter has come and gone and I wanted to share a few of the pictures that I took while we celebrated this weekend.


We will start with the Easter egg coloring that the kids count down the days for and I dread! It all went well in the beginning. Everything was pretty much ready and set up by the time the older two came home from school. However, we discovered that I didn't cook the eggs enough when one of them was dropped and it looked like Elmer's glue was seeping out all the cracks! I do not know how I managed to do this. I generally overcook them! I guess it is just my pregnancy brain at work and trying to do too many things at once. So we put them all back in the pot and reboiled the eggs. Of course all the dye was gone after this process so the kids had the fun of dying the eggs twice so it all worked out in the end. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

This one does everything with a gusto--even smile!

The older ones loved coloring their own designs on with the white crayon before dying the egg.


He found the egg dye to be delicious! I don't where he gets his taste for vinegar. He did this almost as much as actually dying his eggs.

He loved having a colorful tongue.

He was into multi-colored eggs. You can't tell from the picture but he is showing off a blue and yellow egg.

This is a typical Emma shot. She rarely has a big smile for the camera anymore. I don't know why because she is generally a happy kid--though more quiet and solemn than her older sister.

This is typical Hannah! She and Joshua seemed to have a greater love for the camera and hamming it up than the other two!

Now we have the fun of hunting for the eggs on Saturday morning. Oh, the fun! the joy! (Sarcasm. I do enjoy the egg hunt more than the egg coloring but I guess I am an Easter scrooge masquerading as a fun-loving mommy who provides all these glorious experiences for her children and sometimes my scrooginess peaks out too much : )! )

A good action shot!


Some golden finds!


This is the first year that he really got into the egg hunt. It was so cute to watch his excitement over each find--even if he had kept us up for most of the past four nights!

Here is Hyrum so you didn't think that he wasn't involved or that I neglected him!

Last of all we have the glam shots of the kids in all their Easter finery. I feel bad that this year Hyrum didn't have anything new to wear, but he was still handsome and doesn't really care too much about clothes (especially church clothes). At least Paul got him to wear a tie which is usually not done because Hyrum doesn't like how they feel. He is going to have to get used to them soon because he will have to wear one when he turns twelve and passes the sacrament. Maybe he will like a real tie better than a clip on. Anyway, enough of my rambling tangent.

My handsome boy.

Sweet Emma!

Vibrant Hannah!

My firstborn. I can't believe he is getting so old and tall. What a handsome kid.

Group Shot. The girls are actually the only ones with new clothes to wear (thanks to Nama). But the boys are looking very handsome with some ties added to celebrate the season in style. What a beautiful group of kids! I am one proud momma!

Well that is all. Sorry for the length, but most of it is pictures so I hope that it wasn't too onerous.

Firsts

Well, I have been out of the blogging game for months now and am having a very difficult time getting back into things. It might be the fact that I still do very little in life due to exhaustion or it might be the pregnancy brain that is keeping me in a fog all the time. To help me ease back in I am copying this from my sister-in-law's blog. I hope that it isn't too boring for you.

Who was your FIRST pet? A German Shepherd named Kizzy. I don't know if she was a purebred or anything but she was a very gentle, sweet dog.

Do you still talk to your FIRST love? Everyday! I married him almost 11 years ago.

What was your FIRST job? Growing up I mostly just helped out at home. Occasionally I would help my dad with something on the farm. I also baby-sat some. However, my first "real" job was as a para-pro in the elementary during summer school. I was in charge of helping a little boy with Down's Syndrome.

What was your FIRST car? My parents had a blazer that I drove around in high school or I drove one of the family cars. When Paul and I first married we got a Thunderbird and drove that until we were expecting our third child.

Who was the FIRST person to text or call you today? The doctor's office, I think. They called to let me know that my prenatal quad screening blood work all came back negative so everything is good there.

Who was your FIRST grade teacher? I can't remember. I can see her face and I think that her name was something like Miss Eggbert (something with egg in it), but then she got married 1/2 way through the year and I can't remember anything about that name. It is also possible that I can't remember her first name and the "egg" name came with her marriage. : )

Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? I think it was when my family went to Disneyland. I think I was about 6 years old.

Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk? Jorja Cox. We don't keep in touch. I moved away when I was 8 and that was it. We do still say hello if we ever run into each other at church things but that is very rare.

Where was your FIRST sleepover?Probably at my Grandma Jean's house. When my younger sister was born I guess I was jealous and stepped on or kicked her in the head so my Grandma took me to her house for some extra TLC. I don't remember it but that is the story. I was 2 1/2.

Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? I don't know. I think it was to my oldest telling him to be quiet. He was beating out rhythms on my bathroom counter while I was still in bed trying to sleep!

Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time? I have never been "in" a wedding. I don't even remember attending one until I was about 14.

What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Helped my daughter put her hair in pig tails for school.

What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? I have never been to a concert.

FIRST set of stitches and how? I never had stitches until I was 18 years old and got my wisdom teeth out.

First piercing? My ears when I was twelve.

First foreign country you've been to? Canada--the only foreign country I've been to.

FIRST movie you remember? I am having a hard time remembering. Like Michelle, I think I remember seeing the Fox and the Hound in the theaters.

What was your FIRST bike? I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was 8 or 9. I think my first bike was pink and white with a banana seat, but that's all I can remember.

What was your FIRST computer? I had an old Mac computer of my dad's when I went to college.

Who was your FIRST roommate? Candice was the first name of my room roommate. I can't remember her last name. I also was roomies with Alison, Ilene, Colleen and Carey. They all became some of my best friends and made those two years of single college life fantastic. I still keep in touch with a few of them and I love it.

Well, that is about all you're going to get from me. I had a hard time with some of these. My memory is rather faulty as it is, but you add the fogginess of pregnancy brain and it is amazing I could think of the answers at all.

Family Photo Fun

We took our family photo on Sunday for our Christmas letter. We were lucky that we were able to get a couple shots that were not embarrassing out of the 15-20 pictures my dad shot of us. Here are a few of-----

The Good

The Bad

and The Ugly

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Just a photo of our little mess maker at his sister's school birthday party.

Children keep us humble. I love it when things come out of their mouths that bring to your attention the different phrases that we say too often. Last night:

My toddler is found smearing pudding all over some new coloring books, the kitchen counter and stool.

Mommy: Joshua!

Joshua: Knot (knock) it off?

I then have to spend a moment turned away trying not to laugh because I probably would have said "Knock it off!" Poor little boy. He is so curious and in the destructive phase of his development and I am worn out trying to keep up! I probably do say "knock it off" too often. Another phrase that I found out that I over use is "That's not a good idea." Imagine a little toddler voice saying "Not a dood idea?" Really cute. I wish that I could convey the cuteness through words but I am not that good. He says so many things that bring a smile or laugh to us everyday. Even with the stress and chaos he brings to our home he brings so much more joy and laughter. We couldn't do without him!


I just had to add these cute photos. Two minutes before I took this picture he was standing on top of the chair watching Mary Poppins and by the time I came back with a piece of bread for him to eat (since he was refusing to eat anything else for lunch--I am not a bad mother!) this is how I found him.

Another Catch Up Post

Well, here I am again after having let too many things slide by without a post. I will give a few highlights and pictures of the last couple months. Sorry if this is a rather boring post but I don't have a lot of time and I do have a very messy house.

First off, my oldest daughter turned 7 in October. I can't believe how quickly the time goes by. In the blink of an eye she is going to be eight and getting baptized. I am so blessed to have Hannah as my daughter. She is completely different from me in personality and is rather feisty which tend to end with some collisions between us but she brings life and excitement and drama into everything she does and I am grateful for her vibrancy, intelligence, sweetness (yes, feisty and sweet can be mixed together) and her love for me. Here are a few photos of her enjoying her special day.



Our next highlight is the family vacation that we took to Yellostone National Park from the Oct. 10-14. It was so much fun even though there was an early snowstorm moving through that weekend. The kids loved the snow and, except for Saturday, you were able to stay warm enough while you were hiking the trails. It was like a winter wonderland. I was also able to celebrate my 31 birthday while on vacation and it was a great day even though it was the coldest day of the weekend. We drove around Yellowstone a little and hiked one trail before it got really bad. Then we went and watched an IMAX movie about Yellowstone and went out to eat and got free fried ice cream. Then, since my parents were with us for part of the weekend, they stayed with the kids while Paul and I went down to the hot tubs and relaxed for a while. It was a nice day. Here are a few photos of our vacation.



Here are a couple of our family photos at Yellowstone


Here is a photo of me freezing by a hot spring on my birthday!



Our winter wonderland! It was just so beautiful in some places!

There are a ton more pictures but I don't know how interested any of you would be in them. We did have one adventure. After my parents left we decided to go see a few more things before we left the next day. We went to see the Yellowstone Falls. We decided to go on Uncle Tom's Trail to get a good view of the Lower Yellowstone Falls. When we read this sign we should have taken it more seriously!



We had to go down a steep trail (which was snow covered) with a double stroller with Joshua in the front so that there was no weight in the back. We abandoned the stroller when we got to the steps. There were at least 6-8 long, steep staircases on the way down. My legs were shaking by the time we got to the bottom and it was hard to take a picture! It was a great view of the falls, however. Of course the pictures we took don't do it justice so I won't show them. Then we had to go back up and help our children along the way. Paul was helping Joshua and I helped the girls. When we reached the end of the stairs my throat was on fire and my legs were dragging and we still had to go up the steep, switchback trail with the stroller. Paul and I both had to push to get that thing up the trail at first because Emma wanted to ride too. She had to get out because it was too hard. We eventually did make it up the trail but we were too tired to do anything else so we just went back to the hotel to swim and watch a movie!

Our last big event in the last two months was, of course, Halloween. The kids love that holiday. I used to until I had to be the one in charge of all the costuming and holiday activities! I really don't like pumpkin carving and it is stressful to me to try to come up with cute costumes (especially since I don't sew and all the costumes are so expensive when you are trying to dress up 4 kids!) and I am in the Primary which means for the last 4 years I have been involved in all the Primary and Ward Halloween functions. However, I do it and the kids love it and that makes me happy. Here are a few pictures of the kids:

Just Call Me Speed Racer!

This week I received another ticket! That's right. After 15 years of driving and never even getting pulled over I have been pulled over and given tickets (not warnings) twice in 3 weeks. I don't think the police around here like my face. This one was another stupid "spaced it" situation. My sister-in-law and I were driving to to town to visit another sister-in-law and her newborn twins, having a great conversation about our lives, and I blithely drove by the reduced speed sign without slowing down (not on purpose, mind you). Of course when the fancy, black, undercover cop car started flashing me I realized my mistake. I think the police need a second little device that would allow them to know when the law is being broken consciously or unconsciously and then act accordingly! I mean people get warnings all the time for speeding worse than me consciously! Maybe I need to cry rather than be sorry and look like a flake and then they might be nicer to me.