Just What the Doctor Ordered

Today was precisely the day we needed around here. Maybe we won't have to cancel Christmas and maybe I won't be forced into early retirement. As it turns out when my kids get some sleep and actual food (as opposed to subsisting wholly on sugar) they're quite delightful.

I spent the morning walking with a good friend who also happens to be my aunt, and then visited with some other friends. That's always a great way to start things off. Then my sister and her kids came over and I helped Eliza and my girls make these:

I know you can't tell from the photo, but they're actually hairclips, cute huh?

Anna made the ones on the left and Abby's are on the right

It was fun to teach my girls and my 24 year old sister how to thread a needle and do a little hand-stitching. :) We both felt very uncharacteristically crafty.

After Lizey and Abe and Belle left the kids and I settled in and watched Polar Express. Brennan came home a bit early and took and nap with Joshy while I went into Ben's room to help him find the pair of pants he wanted (he decided around 4 pm to change out of his jammies). While I was in there Nate's bed looked so inviting I gave in and took a nap in it.

When I woke up the boys were playing happily, the girls were outside playing barbies in the snow and so I made dinner accompanied by my very favorite Christmas music and assisted by Nate and Ben. Seriously, if you've never heard of Cori Connors, you really should. She has two Christmas albums and I'm completely in love with both of them. There's something kind of melancholy about the first album "Sleepy Little Town", but it's also deliciously cozy and comforting. The new album is called "One Small Boy". LOVE them.

After dinner the 4 big kids went outside to sled on our driveway. After that Brennan got the boys to bed and I let the girls watch part of White Christmas with me and then sent them to bed and started wrapping gifts while I finished the movie. Lovely day.

Here are some recent photos:

Here's how the kids entertained themselves yesterday, dressing up and posing

Family Christmas party
Molly, my neice, sweetest angel EVER!

Another niece, Belle, the cutest and craziest camel, EVER.

Benny the Shepherd


Abe the star

a photo of Brennan smiling, just look at those blue eyes!

What I Did Today

What a day, what a day. It started with reminding Anna somewhere between 44 and 63 times to grab her teacher gift and card, loading all 5 kids into the car for carpool, realizing I forgot Ben's beep (pacifier, yes he still has it and no he can't drive for 1 1/2 miles without it), coming in to find the beep and seeing Anna's teacher gift and card on the counter. Sigh.

Benny, Joshy and I then enjoyed a few quiet hours where I was going to get all kinds of things done but somehow managed to get almost nothing done besides feeding, bathing, changing, nursing Joshua. Kids get out early on Fridays, so before we knew it it was time to pick them up. We ran to Smith's first to get more eggs so Anna could make cookies for her friend's cookie exchange party. Picked up kids on the way home from grocery store then came home and helped Anna get started on cookie dough. I had to run Abby to her friend's house so I left Anna in charge of Ben and Nate and told her to finish the dough by adding 5 cups of flour. Joshua and I ran Abby to Paige's and came home to find Anna trying to mix dough that was much too thick and flourery. Dumped dough in the garbage and started over. Finally got dough done, and into the cookie press then into the oven. Finished cookies and ran Anna and her friend to their party. Came home to get more done, managed to sort of clean out the car and pack Nate for his overnighter with his cousin.

5:10 Pump. Anna walks in from party, load her, Nate, Ben and Joshua in the car and go pick up Abby. Swing by Arby's for kids' dinner. Drive to our nearby "big" city (while using my double jointed arm to reach back and feed Joshy his bottle) to meet my brother to hand Nate off for Rex's birthday party. Drive to sister's house to drop off girls to watch her kids, drive home.

6:45, get home, greet Brennan, feed Joshua baby food, get him ready for bed, nurse him while Ben sits with us to stroke my hair.

8:00, all is quiet, Brennan laying with Ben, Joshua asleep, Anna and Abby not home yet, Nate at Rex's. I start organizing choir folders for tomorrow's rehearsal.

9:00, girls come home, get ready for bed in a flash, okay that was wishful thinking, really it took 45 minutes.

10:00, finish folders, start cleaning the kitchen.

10:30 sitting at the computer wondering why on earth I felt compelled to write this rather than just going to bed. I guess sometimes I just need to see what I do all day because based on what I have to show for today: a batch of cookie dough in the garbage, laundry still unfolded, messes as far as the eye can see, memories of impatient things I said to the kids all day, and about 4 days' worth of stuff to do tomorrow -- I think I should fire myself or at the very least force myself to resign :).

Update

I'm kind of dying because tonight Brennan said, "Uh, did you know Joshua has been teething?" "No." "He has a tooth." My little 5 month old baby boy totally has a tooth poking out of his gum. I had no idea. I kind of got this rush of sadness and pride. As strange as it sounds I was proud of him because he seems to be just this darling little blob, but he's actually been being productive growing a tooth for who knows how long and hardly even fussy. I felt so sad because I don't want him to grow up so fast. In 2 seconds he'll be moving out and I want to hold on to all my kids! Okay, yes now you know how completely neurotic I am. We love Joshua.

Benjamin very patiently ran a lot of errands with me today. At one point he was ready to be done and wanted some food. I promised him if he could get whatever he wanted to eat if he just let me finish. By the time we were finally checking out Ben told me he was totally out of energy. I bought him some lunch and an Icee. As we sat down to let him eat he took a few sips of his Icee and said (with an enthusiasm in his voice that you just have to hear to believe) "MOM, I'm starting to get more ENERGY!" Today he asked me, "Mom, what's Abe's first name?" I said, "Well it's Abe, or Abraham." "Oh yeah, Abraham, GREAT job, Mom!" We love Ben.





Speaking of teeth, did I mention Nate lost one of his top front teeth? I love how he looks. He wonders why whenever an adult notices his missing tooth they start singing "All I want for Christmas is my one front tooth, my one front tooth." (The other one is loose and I'm really hoping he'll lose it before Christmas so we can sing the song correctly). Nate has been really worried about the fact that there aren't any presents under the tree. He asks me every day if I've bought any yet. I really need to get wrapping so the poor boy can relax. We love Nathan.

Can I tell you how nice it is to have a child that reminds me about the things she has going on. So often as a mom you have to just sort of be the brain for everyone in your family and keep track of where 7 different people are supposed to be and bring and do and eat at all times. Actually I only have to do that for 6 people because Abby is on it. She's also such a little nurturer and LOVES it when I ask her to get Joshua dressed or hold him when he's drinking a bottle. We love Abigail.

Anna and Chloe had their class here yesterday and our cute little neighbor girl (she's 4) got to stay after a little bit so her Mom could finish some errands. Both Anna and Abby were playing "doggy" with her. I was heating up leftovers for dinner and Diana didn't want any. I knew her Mom would be here to get her soon so I didn't worry too much about the fact she wasn't eating, but Anna wouldn't rest until Diana finally ate a bowl of cereal. I love how much she loves little ones. We love Anna.

Update

I know I say this all the time, but Anna is our festivity queen. She gets so into each and every holiday and is way better than me at making them special. She'll be such a good mom. Anyway, she and Abby basically single-handedly decorated for Christmas this last weekend. I refused to pull one Christmas decoration out until we did some serious cleaning, so Anna really pitched in and then carefully and lovingly went about the house decorating. She's also always on the hunt for things she can talk me into letting her have for her room. I love how child-like she is that way and hope she always will be. We love Anna.


Abigail went to the grocery store with me the other afternoon. When we walked out she noticed a man ringing a bell and asked me why he was doing that. "Well, he's trying to collect money for..." before I could finish she blurted out, "WHAT?! You mean he's wants people to give him money just for ringing a bell?" I quickly explained it wasn't for him, he was doing it for other people. Anna walked into Josh's room the other day to find Abby having a tea party with her dolls. She grabbed the camera and took the following pictures. We love Abigail.

Every day Nate asks me if I've bought him any presents yet. He is so excited for Christmas and all the parties and festivities. He was also so excited to decorate the tree. This time of year is truly so much more magical with children. The highlight of his life though is a Christmas chocolate advent calender I bought for each of them and our upcoming Christmas tree party when they get to sleep under the tree. We love Nathan.

My sister watched my little boys yesterday so I could do some shopping. Ben gave Eliza instructions on how to make a bottle for Joshy. He's just so dialed in and takes himself so seriously I can't get enough of it. A few nights Nate came in to tell us he was scared. Ben followed him in and after he heard Nate he looked at him and said, "Nate, Jesus is with us." Oh, so sweet. We love Ben.

Joshua is beyond words. Honestly, I feel so lucky to have him at this age this time of year. I got the big kids off to school, Ben was playing happily and I fed Joshy his baby food while we listened to one of my favorite Christmas albums. There's just nothing that makes me feel the Spirit more than an innocent smiling child and music. Heaven truly can exist in our homes, maybe for just seconds at a time (at least here) but I'll take it. Here's a sampling of the joy Joshua brings.

Joshua Laughing from Andrea W. on Vimeo.

We love Joshua.

Thanksgiving Weekend

First of all, if you haven't already, be sure to check out a new blog 3 of my brothers just launched. They're not good for much, but they're always good for a laugh :)

Wow, what a great Thanksgiving weekend we had. I kept meaning to post a grateful post, but never got to it. I am so grateful though, for so many things. It seems almost everyday I hear about someone, usually a friend or neighbor or family member who is going through something really hard. I then usually regret that I can't do something more than pray for them and then I realize that's the best thing I can do. I'm so grateful that I know about and believe in the power of prayer.

I'm also so grateful for my sweet family. To have 5 children can have its challenges, but it's far more rewarding than hard. I love my children and husband so very much. Having a baby around is a particular blessing, there's just something about babies that is irreplaceable.

three 3 year olds "helping" my saintly mother make muffins

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my Dad's family. It was a smaller group than usual, but so nice. It was festive and fun. After the big feast and some socializing we headed to my parents' home for some schmoozing with my parents and siblings and families (Christian, Rebecca, Oliver and Amelia were in town).

Friday we met my family at a forest park nearby for a fire and roasted hotdogs and s'mores. The guys and the kids played a fun football game and the rest of us sat around the fire. That night the adults went out to eat at a yummy Mexican restaurant.

Ryan's coon-skin cap that his wife loves so much

Brennan always looks unamused in photos, but he loved it, I promise

Saturday we got the house clean and hosted a football party to watch our local rivalry game with my family. It was a fantastic game and great company. Towards the end we girls got a little chattier than our husbands would have liked, and many a kid was told to get out from in front of the tv and lovingly invited to go downstairs. But all in all, definitely a great time.

Sunday I went to church early to rehearse with our choir who sang our Thanksgiving song for Sacrament meeting. It went really well, I'm so grateful for such good supportive choir members. It still is really hard and scary for me, but I also genuinely love being part of it too.

That evening we met at my sisters' neighborhood clubhouse for my niece, Belle's, 2nd birthday party. I love this quirky little imp of a girl. Eliza had some darling games for all the kids and lots of treats. The adults sat around chatting and laughing with Josh's family. We left happy and tired.

the birthday girl

More Update

Here's super baby! Joshua has discovered his voice and loves to squawk and squeal and we cannot get enough. He is ready with smiles and giggles except in the middle of the night when he wakes up hungry and I have the nerve to change his diaper first, he screams in pure fury and it cracks me up. We love Joshua.

Benny loves our neighbors, we all do, but Benny is obsessed with them. They have three kids named, Tyler, Diana and Will and Ben has sort of lumped them together and refers to them collectively as Tyana. Anyway, he always wants to play with them and the other day he asked if he could go see if they could play. I told him not right then because I had to go shower and then we needed to run some errands. He said, "Okay, I'm just going to go outside to look for bugs." "Okay, but stay in the back yard." The phone rang and after chatting for a few minutes I peeked out back to check on Ben who was no where to be seen. I got off the phone and then called my neighbor and sure enough Benny was there. What a little stink! Also, lately he will get Joshua in a headlock or some other less than gentle gesture and when I tell him to stop he says, "But Mom, he loves me" "Yes he does love you, but you still can't put him in a headlock." We're working on it. We love Benjamin.

The other day Nate walked into my room where I was making Joshua laugh. The baby got giggling so hard and it was so cute. Nate stood there with the biggest grin on his face and then said, "We are sooo lucky." "Why are we lucky?" "Because we have Joshua". I love that my 6 year old gets the magic of our baby. Then again, the other morning he came into the kitchen carrying Joshy and said, "Here Mom, Patches woke up." "Uh, Patches?" (Patches is our guinea pig) "Oh, I mean Joshua!". We love Nate.

For Abby's parent teacher conference the other day I had to bring Joshua with us. When Abby became aware of that she reassured me that she had already talked to her teacher about the fact that even though parents were supposed to try to leave siblings home, there was a possibility her 4 month old baby brother would have to come. I had never mentioned anything about any of this, but found it so funny and so like Abby to have thought it all out and discussed the possibilities with her teacher. "Don't worry, Mom, Mrs. Sutton said it would be okay to bring a baby if we needed to." In so many ways she's about 5 steps ahead of me. If I need to be sure I don't forget something I ask Abby to remind me and can count on it. She's a huge help. We love Abigail.

Anna and Chloe are in full swing of their latest creative venture. They managed to get a good group to sign up for their play. They've scheduled 2 hours each week in our basement for play practice. (When I say "they've scheduled" that's exactly what I mean, I asked to look at the flier right before they went to pass them out). I told them I just couldn't be involved this year, even to answer the door because there's a good chance I'll be feeding the baby. They agreed and so far have kept their word. The first week they did auditions which took about 10 minutes, but they somehow managed to keep their wards entertained for the rest of their 2 hours. They're desperate for boys, but Nate isn't interested so they had to settle for Benny He was willing, but got uninvited after the first hour when he kept trying to sword fight with pool sticks. They are basing this play off a barbie movie of The Princess and the Pauper. In the script they put together based on that movie one of the characters was "Mrs. Madamecarp." They're very cute and very serious about this and I can't wait to see the play. We love Anna.

Update

Last weekend Brennan took the girls down South so they could hang out with Grandma Jamie and Grandpa John while he played in a golf tournament. They left around 4 am Friday morning so they could get there in time for his 10:00 am tournament start time. Around 8:00 Brennan called me to report that they had been in an accident. Thankfully they were all fine, a little shaken up (Anna thought it was pretty exciting, Brennan and Abby were traumatized.) They hit some rough weather and started sliding off the road. Brennan corrected and they slid sideways off the other side of the road which was a big ditch in between the freeways. Miraculously they didn't roll and they and our car, except for two tires, were fine. Also miraculously a passerby happened to have a winch which he managed to pull them out with and an air compressor to get their tires to make it to the nearest town to buy new ones. I am unbelievably grateful that my family was spared. They managed to get to their destination 20 minutes after Brennan's two day golf tournament started. The girls had a great time with their grandparents and Brennan managed to golf, catch up with old friends, and enjoy the girls and John and Jamie.

The boys and I met Macy, (my SIL) and kids at the zoo to freeze to death and see some adorable baby animals. There's a baby elephant and monkey and tigers. I think our favorite was the baby monkey, so tiny and so cute! On the way home Benny was in an exhaustion induced coma, Joshy slept so Nate and I chatted. It was so much fun to get a real look into his life. He told me all about his friends at school and what he does at recess and all those things that I'm always trying to get him to tell me about. We stopped for dinner and grabbed a movie to watch at home. It was so great to be with my boys.

Saturday Nate got to go to a football game and sit in a box with my Did with yummy food. He LOVED it.

Sunday we were happily all reunited and topped off the weekend with dinner and my parents. Life is good.

Just Some Stuff

This post has no rhyme or reason to it, it's just some things I've been thinking about and wanting to record.

First of all, last week I got to have my nephew and two nieces, Rex, Lucy and Molly over for not long enough. I barely saw Rex and Lucy as they disappeared with my big kids soaking up every second they get together. My 2 year old niece Molly however, was all mine. We did puzzles and took care of her doll and just chatted and sang songs. She's amazingly verbal for a barely 2 year old and she knows about 14,000 more song lyrics than I ever will. She talks perfectly, but has a slightly nasal tone that I can't get enough of. She's totally dialed in to everything and everyone around her. It was pure heaven, I LOVE 2 year olds.

Yesterday Eliza and her two littles came over, Abe (3) and Belle (almost 2). Joshy was sleeping so we played a few games with Ben, Abe and Belle and ate lunch and they played in the leaves. It made me so happy. Abe and Ben are so cute together, sometimes they butt heads, but they love each other SO much and most of the time get along so well. Belle is so funny and quirky I could watch her all day long, did I mention I love 2 year olds? I was always so excited to be a mom that I sort of forgot how much fun it would be to be an aunt. I love all my nieces and nephews so much and one of my greatest joys is how much my kids adore their cousins.

I've mentioned before how my oldest brother and his family live in TN so we rarely see them. They were able to come to Grandma's funeral and one of my favorite things about their visit was when their two oldest boys, David (almost 16) and Spencer (14) came over to watch football with Brennan. It made me so grateful for Brennan and how great he is to have invited them over and have so much fun with them. He'll be such a good teenager dad. David and Spencer are both such sweet, good boys it made me excited for teenagers.

Eliza forwarded all of us siblings something my mom saved. It was a family home evening we had back in 1994 where we all said why our other siblings were lucky and my Mom wrote them down and saved it. It was hilarious to see what we envied about each other. My very favorite was for my brother Davis it said "Prestigious job" he worked at DownEast Outfitters. The thing is, it kind of was one of those jobs where cool people worked. So funny. Anyway, the thing that amazes me is that my mom not only wrote them down, she actually saved and was able to find it all these years later. She always did such cute things like that. We have the cutest audio tapes of her asking us questions and our funny answers and cute little voices all throughout our childhoods. Thank goodness for blogs, because if we had to depend of me typing something up, printing it and filing it, we'd be up a serious creek.

For an event at school the kids were encouraged to wear a t-shirt, preferably one they decorated. I think it was for red ribbon week so it was probably supposed to have an anti-drug message, but Anna jumped at the chance to decorate a shirt. She gathered leaves and used them as stamps. I just love her creativity. For some stupid reason the picture keeps showing up upside down no matter what I do.


At Joshua's 4 month appt. my doctor said they've changed their feeding recommendations pretty dramatically. Now we're supposed to start them on solids at 4 mos. This was his first meal with his wheat cereal, he wasn't loving it.

I love this little guy so much, he's so full of smiles and laughter. We're very blessed.

Update

Wow, I can't even tell you how much I have missed having a computer and thereby a connection to my friends and family! Our computer was very, very sick so we bought a new one and I'm so grateful to be connected after a VERY long week.


Joshua turned 4 months old this week! He's chunking right up and as adorable as ever. We love Joshua!


Ben is in that really tricky phase transitioning out of naps. He still kind of needs them, but whenever he does it takes forever for him to fall asleep at night. My sweet, happy boy has been pretty grumpy especially late afternoons and often falls asleep in the car or on the couch which kind of breaks my heart. Why is it so sad to me when little kids are so tired they fall asleep wherever they are? He wanted Nate to help him do something the other day and Nate didn't want to comply. Ben quickly said, "Nate, member we're best buds?" We love Benjamin.


The other day we went to be vaccinated for H1N1 and they were running low on the shots so they wanted to give us the mist. Abby has asthema though and can't have the mist. She started melting down that she had to be the only one to get a shot. Nate quietly said, "Mom, I'll get a shot too so Abby won't be the only one." Oh, he can be so sweet! Brennan and I were able to get shots with Abby and Nate didn't have to. We love Nate.


Abigail loves a boy in her class, well several to be completely. However, one in particular plays with her almost every recess. She gets a sloppy grin on her face whenever she talks about him. The other day she said, "Yeah, it was fafe's dart that found my Cam." She'd heard that phrase only it was "fate's dart" on a tv show and felt it applied perfectly to her. She's a nut. She's also just compiled a book of poetry. Here are a few of my favorites:

#2 - Winter is Fun

Winter is Fun.
Winter is cold.
There is a mess where ever it blowd.

#7 - Hollidays

I love Hollidays, who wouldn't? Special dinners and games with winners!

#12 - Golf

Every day my dad comes home late because he's been golfing neer the lake.

We love Abigail.


Anna has officially gotten to the stage where she really cares about what she looks like. I remember a friend of mine got grounded from hairspray in like 10th grade for a week. Anna doesn't use hairspray or I would seriously consider that. Brennan has threatened we're going to cut off her hair if she doesn't start hurrying in the mornings. He's planning to cut off some blond doll hair and scatter it on her bed so that when she wakes up she'll think he made good on his threat. I'm all for it. I'll let you know how it goes. Instead of their annual dance class/recital for the neighborhood girls this year they're trying to do a theatre class. It's called ACPP (Anna, Chloe Play Production) and they're going to put on a play of Princess and the Pauper. Wow, am I re-living my childhood, this is such my life with my older brother, Braden, who went on to get his Phd at NYU in Children's Theatre. I love that they love this. We love Anna.

Halloween

Our laptop is dying a slow and painful death. I'm kind of dying being cut off. Currently, I'm at my sister's house using hers and getting my fix. Hopefully, we'll get ours fixed or replaced soon. While I have access I wanted to post our Halloween pics. I've also loved seeing everyone else's who's posted.

First we have Joshy the lion patiently putting up with his mother fussing over him.

Here we have Benny, the Storm Trooper or technically I think he's a Clone Trooper, but we prefer the characters and terms from the older
Star Wars movies. Here he is showing his face

Here he is in full fab-leous costume

Nate, the Crocodile Wrestler

Abigail the snowman or snow woman.

Anna as Elvis

Here are my neice and nephew or Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George, isn't that darling?`

The Gala

Thursday night my parents called to tell us they just found out we were invited to attend the Governor's Gala. Do you pronunce it gay-la or gah-la? They were going, but didn't realize that they could bring their family. A girl in my line of work doesn't get a lot of gala invites, so with 24 hours notice and nothing to wear we set out to make it happen. Brennan borrowed a dark suit from a friend and that just left me.


Friday the kids were out of school so I figured if I could feed the baby and get him settled he always takes a really great morning nap then I could leave the kids with Anna in charge and go shopping and actually try things on.


I fed the baby and just before laying him down Ben needed help going potty. I set Joshy in his bouncy seat just outside the bathroom so I could help Ben. When he finished I stood there watching while he flushed the toilet. For some dumb inexplicable reason it started to overflow. I stood there helplessly for a second then sent Benny out while I ran to the other bathroom for the plunger. I got back just in time to see water pooling all over the bathroom floor. I plunged and it finally stopped. Now I stood in disgusting sewer water thinking that this day was going very differently than I had imagined it. I will also (not proudly) admit that during those types of moments the thought "Where is my good-for-nothing husband! The nerve of him out working hard to provide for our family instead of being here to deal with this sewer water!" tends to go through my head. I called him just to tell him to feel grateful he was at work but then he said that he was at the dump installing dispensers in the bathrooms. Then he told me that there actually was something I could have done. Evidently there's a valve that shuts off the water. Good to know.


I started yelling for the kids to bring towels which were all in the laundry room. They didn't quite sense my urgency, but luckily Ben did and jumped right in to action. Anna, Abby and Nate finally brought me some towels, but Ben stuck by me in the hall making sure I had enough towels and rags. Upon hearing the big kids fighting he even said to me, "Don't worry, Mom, I'll take care of it." Then I heard him say in his best weary exasperated Mom voice, "Guys, what's the matter?" I smiled for a minute until I remembered I was wiping up toilet water. About 50 towels, a LOT of disinfectant, and a shower later I was finally ready to put Joshua to bed and go shopping.


I tend to misplace my keys a lot; however, I rarely really lose them so I didn't panic when I couldn't find them initially. As time went on and my precious window of opportunity ticked by and after searching the diaper bag 37 times, the car 42 times and my usual key drop spot about 73 times panic set in. I offered my kids $5 if they found them, but no such luck. I was defeated and ready to give in. Just then my Mom called and when she heard my dilemma rushed over so I could drive her back home and then take her car. My fairy godmother!

In the end it all worked out. My bathroom floor is cleaner than it has been for quite some time, I managed to find something to wear for very little $$, I even remembered I had a darling dressy outfit for Joshua that someone gave me when Nate was born. It was fun to dress up and see everyone else all dressed up, Joshua was an angel baby, dinner was fancy and I tried scallops for the first time (fyi: didn't like them, I wanted to, but found them to be like fish-flavored marshmellows), we had excellent company at our table, and there was a fabulous program of singing and dancing to some of my favorite broadway numbers. Such a fun night.

One of my handsome dates, wish I would have gotten a picture of Brennan and me, oh well. Isn't he so cute?

Update

Brennan was golfing on Saturday and just as he was about to take a shot he heard a buzzing sound and started panicking and swatting at what he was sure was a bee coming in for the kill. After a few fruitless swats he realized the "buzzing" was actually his phone in his back pocket on vibrate. We love Brennan.

Anna and Chloe spent about 2 hours making Nate over. They put make up and girls clothes and a wig on him hoping they could convince us all that Nate had invited a new school friend, "Brittany" over. I wish I could have taken a picture, but I can't find my memory card. He was quite a sight and a very good sport. Her greatest joy is to scare or trick someone. We love Anna.

A good friend of mine called the other day with wonderful news that they're expecting a baby. When Abby heard this she was so excited and quickly rattled off how perfectly their family matches up with ours. "Emily and Anna, Abby and Abby, Jackson and Nate, Cooper and Ben, their baby and Josh, and Mac (their dog) and Patches!" So like her to include our stinky little guinea pig. We love Abigail.

Nate has his first basketball game tonight. I can't even describe how excited about this he is. This morning as he laid in his bed upon waking up he started yelling, "Who's coming to my game tonight?" My kids are all pretty transparent, especially Nate. This fact has its disadvantages, but I absolutely love this about them when they're happy or excited. We love Nate.

I get excited about Halloween costumes for my kids. I love it when we can think of something unique or especially fitting for them. However, inevitably, each of my kids go through a phase of wanting to be the same thing every other kid that age wants to be. I give in knowing eventually they'll be up for a more fun costume another year. This year Ben has been bound and determined to be a storm trooper. Yesterday I finally bought him the silly costume with the stupid mask that covers his cute little face. Right when we got home he wanted to try it on. He was so excited and as soon I finished helping him get it on I suggested he go look at himself in the mirror. He came running back to me yelling, "I look FAB-LEOUS!" It was the cutest, most sincere, most enthusiastic little utterance ever. I'm so glad I didn't deny him that joy. We love Benjamin.

Joshua is getting more and more delicious every day. He is so quick to smile and laugh and just be plain adorable. I feel like I'm going to explode with how happy he makes me. He's getting pleasantly plump and I can't get enough of him. The other day Benny was shaking toys above him and got him to laugh which made Ben burst out laughing which made me almost die of laughter and joy. I'm sure the three of us on the floor laughing at a few rattles shaking was quite a sight. We love Joshua.

Weekend

This is my favorite picture of my Grandma, isn't she beautiful? Friday was my Grandma's funeral. It was really so nice and perfectly her. Each of the talks were totally different but all so good. There was lots of music which is what my Grandma wanted. There was a gorgeous Chopin piano solo called "Raindrop Prelude". When my uncle called the woman who was going to play it she first thought they wanted her to play "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head". Close call, we've all had a good laugh at that. The next musical number was a grandchildren choir I figure there were 42 of us up there with two cousins on missions and two of them too little to sing. We sang my Grandma's request "I Often Go Walking" and then "Love is Spoken Here". It was so powerful and emotional, but most of us managed to at least sing some of it. The final musical number was "O Divine Redeemer" sung by my brother, Braden, and cousin, Ashley. It was the perfect thing to end on, truly sublime.

Here are all her children, yes my aunt has 7 brothers and then had 5 sons.

A definite highlight of the weekend was having all my parents' grandkids together.

Hanging out at my parents' enjoying Bradens' family.

My oldest brother and his sweet family live in TN and we rarely see them. Their oldest kids are significantly older than the rest of the kids, but aside from their size, that was never apparent. They were so sweet and fun and interested in the little kids. Ben is obsessed with Spencer. All of my kids were EXTREMELY bitter when they had to say goodbye. One of my greatest joys is having my kids love their cousins so much.

Friday was kind of a marathon day. We got up and got ready and headed out for the viewing before the funeral. As we closed the casket my tender kids were so sad and emotional. It broke my heart, but I am so grateful I could look them in the eye and remind them how happy my Grandma is and that that was only her body taking a rest for now. Her spirit is joyfully reuniting with Grandpa and loved ones and our Savior.

After the funeral and the cemetery we went back to the church for lunch. Those poor Relief Society women had quite a crowd to feed, but did so wonderfully. After lunch we gathered at my grandparents' home for probably the last time and sat around sharing our memories of her. Then all of my siblings and our families and my parents gathered at my parents' home. We had dinner and played games. It was so nice just to be together. I loved that my older kids were old enough to play with us. I remember being "old enough" to learn those same games with my uncles and aunts and it was a huge deal.

Saturday, Christian, Rebecca, Oliver and Amelia went home. Later that day we gathered for a giant soccer game and then the pumpkin patch. They came home and each got to decorate their pumpkins. We left our kids, except for Joshy, at my parents' with Braden and Eliza's kids so that all the adults could go out to dinner. It was so much fun to enjoy a night out with some of my very favorite people.

Sunday Davis and Melissa left and after a nice Sunday dinner with Braden's family at mom and dad's we said goodbye to them.

We have so much to be grateful for.

Goodbye

Last Wednesday I got to go say goodbye to my Grandma June. She died on Friday. I'm so grateful I had that chance and it was so neat to gather at the hospital with so many of my aunts and uncles and cousins and siblings. I will always treasure that memory; however, given that I was a little emotionally overwhelmed and that there was quite a crowd I basically just said goodbye and that I loved her. As soon as I left the hospital and throughout these days since I've thought of so many other things I wish I would have said. So, here through my blog is my letter to my Grandma. My beloved Grandma who I'm missing so much but can't help but be happy for. She's been without Grandpa for a little over two years and I think they were the longest two years of her life. She and Grandpa met in the 7th grade (or was it 9th?) and they were just one of those couples that clearly belonged together. Even in my sadness it makes me smile to think of the two of them together again.

Dear Grandma,

Please give my love to Grandpa. If you happen to see my Mom's parents please give them my love as well. I miss you all so much! I know I'm blessed to have such amazing grandparents, I'm so sad not to have any of you here with us now.

One of my greatest joys is that most of my children will have memories of you. My Anna June will remember her namesake and have a clear picture of a great woman she has that connection with. They were so sad to hear you had moved on. We've loved having you around so much these past few years when you stayed with Mom and Dad or came for Sunday dinners or to our cousin camps in the summers. For as many kids as we always have running around at our get-togethers you seemed to always see them all. With 46 grand kids and 34 great grand kids it would be easy to for each little face to sort of blend together in a huge mass of craziness, but you somehow seemed to be able to see each one of us and understand who we were just by quietly interacting or watching. I was always surprised by your insight when you would tell me something you'd observed about my kids. I would love to be more like you in that way, maybe if I were quiet ever I would learn some things.

Brennan loves you and has always felt close to you and Grandpa. That too means the world to me. I'm so happy he was touched by your lives and goodness. He takes pride in being part of your company and that connection with both of you.

I would love to be like you if and when I ever grow up, Grandma. You are so refined without a hint of snobbishness. You managed to raise 8 amazing children and opened your home as foster parents I don't know how many times. You somehow also found time to develop your talents with music and literature and gardening. You were married to a man with a larger than life personality and you were happy to give him the spotlight, but you never disappeared. You are articulate and well read and up on current events and were happy to converse, but never needed to show off your knowledge. Mostly, you are a deeply spiritual, self-less, righteous woman who stayed on the path to the end. I hope to be so prepared to meet the Lord as you were. I love you so much and I'm so grateful to have your faithful example to cling to until we meet again. Mostly, I'm grateful that you'll be my Grandma forever.

Goodbye, Grandma. I love you!

A Good Day

Today was a good day. We're in one of those intense stages -- intensely joyful and intensely stressful. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong it's just the typical chaos that comes with a houseful of adorable, noisy, affectionate, emotional kids plus a newborn. It's the insanity of simultaneously helping 3 kids with homework, holding a sometimes fussy baby or even feeding baby, making dinner, and entertaining 3 year old. You know just that stuff that on any given day makes me feel like either Wonder Woman or a cranky old lady who just really needs a shower. Anyway, I don't take good days for granted.

It was a really cold morning so while Ben watched a show and Joshy slept I took a nice hot bath. Already off to a great start. Then as we drove to our weekly grocery shopping adventure Ben was very seriously discussing things with me in the cutest way ever. He was saying things that an adult would say, but he said them with his lisp and sweet little voice. When I told him my Grandma was sick he quickly asked, "Is she going to be okay?" For some reason that made me smile the rest of our drive.

At the store I let Ben choose a toy that he can have as soon as he's potty trained. He had a really hard time choosing, but finally did and I was really glad it wasn't the toy hunting rifle. We came home and Ben took a nap while I watched almost a whole movie while I fed Joshua. He's a slow eater, but sometimes it's nice. I didn't have to drive carpool. The kids came home happy and noisy. Anna got most of her homework done at school and went to piano this afternoon having practiced this week! Abby had her friend Paige over and they let Ben and Nate play hide and seek with them downstairs. Happily occupied children is truly a piece of heaven.

When Ben woke up I put his new toy up in the closet right where he can see it when he sits on his little toilet in the bathroom. We put his underwear on and he went potty several times sometimes in the toilet and sometimes not, but no big messes. You'd have thought he re-discovered the theory of relativity by his siblings' reactions to his successes. So cute. Ben was so proud of himself, couldn't wait to go tell the neighbors that he went potty in his toilet. I'm cautiously optimistic.

I knew what I was making for dinner and had it in the oven by 4:30 (UNbelievably rare). Most of the kids actually liked and ate dinner. Brennan came home and held the baby so I could get some things done. He made Joshua laugh so hard. I made a dent in the messes. We played our own version of charades for family home evening and that always cracks me up. Ben does the exact same thing every time he gets a turn which is to run around fake fighting an invisible foe and jumping and landing in really awesome poses. When we use up all the usual guesses and still don't get it, he'll say, "I'll give you a clue" and then tells us exactly who he's supposed to be. Brennan for reals acted out his favorite animal, the sloth, again (just in the game).

Now the noisy ones are all asleep and it's just Brennan, baby and me. It was a Good day.

Update

Wow, so much time and so little to say. Seriously, though I've tried to sit down and post many times and just haven't been able to string together coherent thoughts. I cannot guarantee that I've successfully overcome that, but I'm posting anyway.

With a newborn it seems Brennan and I do a lot of divide and conquer. The conquering part is good, but the divide part gets old. Last weekend my parents kindly babysat all the kids including Joshy. I never leave a newborn with a sitter and my parents know that so they always try to help once after we have a baby. It was so nice to sit by each other and actually have a conversation. I love Brennan.

Anna had a really neat adventure that I want her to post about, so hopefully that will be coming soon. I've been so impressed with her lately. She's been incredibly busy with homework, soccer, piano and ballet, but has had such a great attitude and really worked hard. We love Anna.

The other night we were coming home from my parents' house where my mom had done a big treasure hunt for the grandkids. I was telling my kids how blessed they are to have such great grandparents. They wholeheartedly agreed then Abby added, "I love Grandpa and Grandma so much and I would love them even if Grandpa wasn't famous and Grandma didn't give us treats." We love Abigail.

I was so worried about Nate transitioning to being at school all day long. In keeping with his habit of being totally unpredictable, he seems to be thriving. I think he just is so much happier when he's busy all day. He comes home happy and ready to get his chores done and play with a friend. He's gotten much more social and has also rediscovered his bike and loves to be outside every chance he gets. We love Nate.

Benjamin George is constantly making me smile. This was his get-up last Saturday. I'm pretty sure he was in those jammies all day, we didn't go anywhere so why not, right? Anyway, the way he was strutting around with his princess helmet and mis-matched gloves was killing me because I just knew in his mind he was the toughest biker dude EVER when he got on that big wheel of his. I keep being surprised at what a fabulous little companion he is. He's happy to entertain himself, but totally up for running errands or getting together with Abe and Belle. He's just a happy, sweet, really fun little guy. We love Benny.



Joshua is oh so adorable. Jan, I still don't know who he looks like. A lot of people say they see Brennan and Anna in him, but to me he's got his own look going on. This week he started giggling and none of us can get over it. He's so quick to smile, in fact every time I put him in his swing when he's still awake I'll go to check on him and there he is cooing and smiling at some invisible friend of his. It's the cutest thing. It does make me wonder who's hanging around here, but any friend of Joshua's from heaven is welcome here. Anyone who's had a baby knows exactly how I feel, but it's still frustrating not to be able to describe the feeling of complete joy he gives me. I love that he has the same effect on our whole family. We love Joshua.

Angels

This hasn't been my favorite week. I got a sinus/ear infection that gave me vertigo which made me nauseated. It's tricky bouncing or rocking a baby when your head is spinning when you're holding still let alone moving. I'm finally starting to feel better, but am still a little dizzy. The good news is:

Joshy and Benny have been angels. Joshua has never been more adorable, smiling and cooing, oh I can't get enough of him. Ben was so good natured to just play and watch shows with me while I laid around as much as I could.

One afternoon I stood up to go get Joshua and got hit with a wave of nausea. I knew I wasn't going to be able to ride that wave out so I set Joshy down on the ground and yelled for Anna and dashed to the bathroom. Anna quickly rescued Joshy from being "rescued" by Benny. She then grabbed the phone and called Brennan to tell him I was not in good shape. She knew he was supposed to work late that night but suggested he figure out a way to come home earlier. She then kept checking with me to see if she could get me anything.

Poor Brennan had a crazy busy day, but stayed home as long as he could and then did find a way to come home earlier than planned. My mom came to help me and my visiting teachers brought dinner yet again. I HATE being sick, but it has made me grateful for all the angels in my life, oh and for antibiotics.

Update

We went out to a balloon festival Friday night and had a really nice time.

such a pretty sight

This was definitely the highlight for the kids - sitting on top of the minivan.
Anna wasn't there instead we have Abby's friend, Paige.

This picture makes me so happy

Saturday we stuck close to home and watched some college football. Brennan kind of can't contain his excitement. For much of the day he was banished into our bedroom to watch so that I could watch something I wanted to watch when I was confined to the rocking chair holding Joshua. We all heard clapping, fake spitting, yelling and jumping up and down coming from the bedroom. Our kids thought it was hilarious to watch their relatively sane dad carrying on in such a way all by himself to the tv. We love Brennan.

Anna has been begging to go horseback riding for a long time now. One of her best friends has a horse that they keep at her Grandma's. Sadie's grandma was kind enough to let Anna tag a long with Sadie and let her ride. Anna was in heaven. I think she kind of belongs on a farm or ranch. Her dislike of germs doesn't seem to bother her when it has to do with animals. She also got to go to a play with my parents for her birthday date. She loved the play and loved having her grandparents all to herself. We love Anna.

The kids were discussing the movie "Jumanji" and Abigail could not for the life of her get that name down and kept calling it "Geometry". Now that would be an exciting movie. As evidence of Abby's sensitive and dramatic side I submit the following: the kids and I were discussing something Anna's friend had told her about a boy they know seeing his Grandpa's spirit. The kids all agreed that would be extremely creepy and I was trying to convince them that if it was someone you loved and had been close too it would be really neat. Suddenly Abby exclaimed with tears in her eyes, "Great!, now you've got me thinking about all the people we love who have died!" We love Abigail.

Nate seems very happy when he leaves for and comes home from school; however, whenever I ask how school was his reply is "Terrible!" I guess he feels it's not cool to like school. I'll take what I can get :) Last night we were all gathered round the tv watching a very important college football game. It was an extremely close and exciting game so Brennan was even more animated than usual. When a certain kicker kicked the ball out of bounds Brennan was irate with this poor young man and kept telling us what a stupid idiot this kicker was. Sweet Nate listened quietly and then said, "Dad, I'm sure he tried his very best." We love Nathan.

Ben took a nap with Brennan last weekend and when he woke up he turned to Brennan and said, "I'm going to go see Nate, he's WEELLY (really) funny." I love how much he loves his siblings and especially his big brother. Tonight we measured each of the kids and put their mark on the wall. They were all so excited and decided they also wanted to be weighed. I said, "Benny, go see how much you weigh" to which he replied, "I already did -- furty-six cents!" I've had such a renewed affection for this little boy since the big kids have been at school all day. He is truly just a delightful little companion.

Joshua is two months old today. Happy Birthday, baby love! There are days he's fussy and I do little other than rock him and sometimes I feel like I would give anything to just get something productive done. It's funny though because whenever I do have extended periods without holding him I miss him terribly. He's completely won me over and I just wish I could bottle his smiles and cooing so I could keep them forever.

A Special Day!

Today was a really special day, it was my Dad's swearing in as Lt. Governor. Brennan was out of town so couldn't be there and although I knew it would be interesting I decided this was something I didn't want my kids to miss. As I was getting ready this morning Ben must have sensed the importance of the occasion and wanted to change his look up a little bit. So with the help of my make-up this is what he came up with:






I'm really grateful I don't use waterproof mascara. We got him cleaned up, loaded him and Joshua into the car, picked up the big kids from school, and headed to the Capital. With my trusty (and ENORMOUS) stroller and a couple of fabulous staff members we got parked and guided through lots of tunnels and hallways to the Senate floor where they my Dad's nomination was approved. It was really neat to be there and hear all the nice things so many people had to say. I actually managed to hear most of it while bouncing the baby, or handing him off to my aunt to go help Eliza contain the perfect storm of Ben, Abe and Belle at nap time. They were less than impressed with the event, but very interested in storming the President of the Senate's office with a candy bowl in it.

Me and the 4 big kids on the Senate floor

After the confirmation we moved up to the Gold room for the actual swearing in. It was packed and mostly with cameras. My girls represented our family while I stood near the door. A dear sweet friend took Ben and Abe and Nate and another aunt took Joshy for me so I could hear. It takes a village. Seriously, between my sister and me and our total of 7 kids we had about 8 angels of mercy plus some staffers helping us at various times throughout the day.

My Mom and Dad

My sister, Eliza, Joshua, Me, Mom, Dad and my brother, Ryan

Abby, Belle, Anna, Benny, Nate and Abe

It was exhausting, but such a privilege to be there. This whole experience has given me even more respect for our system of government, our country, our state, and helpful people. We're truly blessed. For a much more entertaining version of this day check my sister's post out here.

A pretty neat moment

Dad's Swearing In from Andrea W. on Vimeo.

Fun, Fun, Fun!

We've had such a fun weekend. We kicked things off by celebrating my darling niece, Molly's, 2nd birthday. I could watch Molly and Belle (my other almost 2 year old niece) ALL day long. Such a cute age and if you want to read a beautifully written post my brother wrote all about her you can do so here.

Just look at that face

Some very focused party guests

birthday girl with her cute cake

After that party we went home and got the kids settled in and then Brennan, Joshua and I headed to another party for a neighbor who is running for our city council. Fun night.

Saturday I had a fabulous nap, and Brennan and the kids cleaned the house. Happy day! That night we had a ward/neighborhood party on our street. They had a cotton candy and snow cone machine. I'm pretty sure each kid had an average of 5 cotton candies. Yikes. Brennan and I sat and visited while holding the baby and hardly saw any of the other kids. Ben had a great time chasing all the teenage boys with his spray bottle. The highlight for the girls was jumping into our neighbors' pool with their clothes on. They were giddy with a feeling of living on the edge. :) It was such a fun night, it's always so nice to feel connected to our neighbors, I wish we did this once a month.

Sunday evening my sister had us all over for dessert to hear about my parents' trip. Other than a minor dessert debacle (which we were in charge of and it's still a little too painful for me to talk about - okay if you insist I'll tell you. I worked all afternoon making and frosting cookies and as we walked out the door I handed them to Brennan so I could carry the car seat, diaper bag, other bag. He promptly set them down and forgot to bring them. Innocent mistake which he chose to find humor in and I'm just not there yet :)).

I LOVE it when babies stretch

sweet baby love

I'm happy to report that this little guy is finally starting to gain weight. Whew. He's even getting little rolls on his legs and his face and belly have plumped up. That makes a mama happy. He's the sweetest smiliest little guy, I can't get enough!!!!

The quote of the week is as we drove to Molly's birthday party I heard the kids talking in the backseat of the car and Abby said, "Yeah, I'm probably not ever going to be on American Idol because my nostrils get big when I sing and the judges will laugh."