Whew!  We are just busy!  But it is good.  I am really enjoying the sunny, albeit rather windy, spring and feel like we dodged the bitingly cold winter bullet this year.  It is so comforting to have the grass greening up and the leaves back on the trees where they belong. There is something about this time of year that makes me restless!  Spring fever, as it were.  My friend moved a couple of weeks ago (sob, sob) and it made me want to move, too!  We have halfheartedly looked around for a bigger house, but my husband relentlessly reminds me that we are reaching the peak of our full capacity -- steadily chug, chug, chugging up that first steep hill of the roller coaster, almost there to that breathless pause of no return, looking down the empty track at nothing for the sheer drop off. Then the mechanism releases and we are off, with our hearts in our throats, letting them off one by one until Matthew and I finally, out of breath, finish the ride alone.  It's all downhill from here, right?  I'm not ready for this!  So we probably don't need a bigger house, I just like to dream about it sometimes.  We might go look at one tonight (rubbing hands together in anticipation...).  I also have been plotting to just switch some rooms around to stave off my itch for change.  I'll keep you posted about that.

Last week Charles turned sixteen!  Everyone is surprised he wasn't that old already.  He does look mature for his age, but rest assured, I am fairly certain he isn't acting older than he is.  I asked him what he wanted for his birthday since I couldn't think of anything, and he replied, "I'm content."  Amazing.  He is funny all the time and keeps us laughing.  Last week we had a kind of humorous incident.  I made the all-time best snicker doodles ever!  They were baked to absolute perfection and I ate too many.  Well, the next morning Lucy failed to see a glass in front of the microwave before she opened it and said glass crashed to the floor.  Almost simultaneously in another part of the kitchen the cookies also crashed to the floor.  Matthew put the cookies back in their container because they were just too good to throw away and then cleaned up the glass.  We felt it would be safest to put a note on the cookies explaining that the possibility, however remote, of glass being on them was there.  It said, "Be careful!  There may be small pieces of glass on the cookies.  Look before you eat."  When Charles came home from school he thought that we were just trying to keep him from eating the cookies and was horrified to learn that there really could be glass on them.  He yelled, "I should throw them away for everyone's sake!  Are you trying to kill us?  There is no way I am eating any."  I tried to assure him that if I really thought there was glass, I would have discarded them.  He was disgusted.  The next morning on the box of cereal was this note from him, "Be careful of poisonous fruit that looks like raisins in the cereal."  Ha, ha!  On Saturday I took part in the Great Cloth Diaper Change -- where people all over the world changed a diaper all in the same moment.  It was mostly to bring awareness to cloth diapering and to the fact that in every minute in the U.S. 60,000 disposable diapers are thrown away -- every minute!!!  Well, Charles thought that was THE most absurd thing he had ever heard of in all his days.  Yesterday, at our family meeting as we went over the calendar for the week he very straight faced-ly added that he was getting together with 100 other guys on Saturday at 2:00 to simultaneously pee in a urinal.  Matthew was confused to say the least, but I knew right away that I was being mocked!!!  So Happy Birthday, insolent one!  Love you!

and now it's april

April has already been a busy month, but it is so lovely and sunny, windy as usual, but all the better to dry all of my clothes -- yesterday I was able to dry three different loads they were being whipped into submission so quickly!  


On Friday my big girl turned 18!  I know!  It is truly unbelievable.  She is such a good girl.  Especially after the birth of my third daughter, people started coming out of the woodwork to oh, so kindly warn me what a horrible experience it is to raise girls!  With ulcers forming I've been waiting and waiting for the horrific nightmare to begin, but there has been no such misfortune around here.  She is funny and smart and pretty to boot.

She has, in fact, been so delightful that I joke about how she didn't prepare me very well for raising the other children... (hmm, what do I mean by that?)  The kids didn't have school on Friday so I whisked them all up to Chicago for some free food at Ikea -- and yes, they did foot our $60 lunch.  Charles tried to stump them by getting three meals, two sides, and a dessert, but they went ahead with their promise.  We really wished that we had bitten the bullet and put some swedish fish and candy bars on our trays -- missed opportunities!!!  And then shopping at a few of her favorite stores (what?  Ikea's not her favorite store, oh, that would be me).  Charles regretted his decision to join us after her second hour in Forever 21 -- live and learn, son.  We spent too much money which made for a grumpy daddy, so I am going to be really good and not buy anything ever again!  I even didn't press "buy" on the amazing water bottle that was on babyhalfoff.com this morning.  I am strong.  I can do this.

Sunday was Easter and my girls finally got to wear their beautiful dresses, from (wait for it, Jen)... FRANCE.  They looked so pretty!

::sisters

::Phin was watching me take pics of the girls

 ::the whole gang

 ::LOVE this one of Ibby

 ::Ella just pins, tucks, and voila!

 ::thanks for trying, buddy

 ::aaaah, big tears

march madness

So the first weekend in March, Ella was in the school play of Beauty and the Beast.  She was a townsperson and a book -- we failed to take any pictures of the book.
Isn't she cute?

She also is on the soccer team this year.  I keep thinking that if she did both of those things last year, she might have gotten into BYU, but c'est la vie.  Matthew keeps reminding me that maybe she's not supposed to go there.

Archie turned 7 months old!

I spent most of the month getting ready to have a yard sale which I held the day that we left for spring break -- busy!  We drove to Florida and the baby behaved about as well as we expected...  On the way we stopped in Nashville and Lucy did baptisms for the first time at the temple there.

We had SUCH a great time at my sister's house in Vero Beach and Archie met some relatives for the first time!!!  He has been so neglected, I tell you!

Hanging out with Grandma Gayle!

 Playing some rock band

 Swimming in their pool

 Boating

We made it out to the Atlantic, which made me nervous because I thought it was too wavy and shark-y

 And Phin turned four!

He didn't really want his picture taken, can you tell?  We still like him.

Uncle John made him the cake -- he definitely fed us well!!!

My sister and her family were so hospitable and it was wonderful to see my parents.  We all had a fantastic time!  And then we had to drive home again...

hello (hello, hello) -- is there anybody out there?

I am back and this time I am planning on staying!  What a winter that was!  Completely crazy!  After about five weeks we finally got a new computer, baby stopped giving me heart attacks with his choking and after six weeks with only one toilet way down in the basement for 8 people (okay, I'm exaggerating -- Archie obviously isn't potty trained) we have a brand spanking new wall mount toilet upstairs.  Hopefully it doesn't "mysteriously" crack anytime soon.  I had so many plans for the winter, none of which came to pass, but I am so very grateful that I was able to nurse my little one back to optimum health.  We spent a lot of time cuddling.  


So what to catch up on?  Archie started solid foods

And he's just not that into them. Well, he likes real people food, but not baby food.   What am I going to do with that case of powdered organic baby food I snatched on baby steals?  And he turned six months.  He was still sick in this picture, sad.

Lucy turned 12 and we had a fun party!

And Phin makes me happy!

He says THE funniest things all day long.  A couple of weeks ago he put on a shirt that was kind of long and he yells out, "Mom, you got me a dress!  A dress like Ibby!"  "Well,"  I replied, "You need to put some pants on."  "No I don't!  My peanut does not show!  See?  My shirt is all skirt-y on the bottom.  It is a dress!"  He was so excited that I finally got him a dress, as if he's been waiting for years for me to do just that.  Even if I were going to have him wear a dress there is a little more required than simply that your peanut does not show.  Yesterday we were driving down the street and he said, "Mom!  Is that a dog or an elephant?"  I didn't see it, but I said, "I'm pretty sure it was a dog."  "No," he asserts, "those people have an elephant."  One second later, "Can unicorns wear hats?"  It is all even cuter when you hear his voice with it.  Aaah.  I am going to do March in the next post so that when I slurp it I won't have too many photos on one page. See you in a minute!

down and out

I had hoped to be a blogging maniac starting with the new year, but alas, the forces of evil have conspired against me and we seem to still be under the effects of that curse. The computer is officially very, very dead which is fine for things like: the kids not having to be tempted by its innumerable charms, but not so great for thing like: me being able to function! Just kidding! But I do use it for paying bills, answering e-mails, sorting and storing our photos, purging my house of nice, but unneccessary things on ebay, and, of course, communicating with all of you! It has definitely become part of my life and hasn't turned on for almost two weeks. We just can't decide what to replace it with... We were hoping our next computer purchase would be a laptop for our college girl, but it needs to be something sooner so I can type with more than one finger! Getting a cramp!

The next victim on our long list of broken belongings is our upstairs main toilet! I know! What next? Long story short, we were trying to replace the 40+ year old toilet seat which had corroded and managed to crack the whole bowl in the process! It is a wall mount, which in case you don't know is positively pre-historic, not stocked in any stores, and can cost up to $800 to replace! We have a plumber working on it, it may take a month to find one, and in the meantime all visitors, including my pregnant students, are given backstage passes through the kitchen and laundry room to the only other toilet in the bowels (ha,ha) of the house. Thank goodness we put that second bathroom in! It is a long walk in the middle of the night, but better than an outhouse, right? Moral of the story: I should never try to make something nicer (replace toilet seat), because I could end up with something infinitely worser (no toilet at all).

The other even more super sad happening is that I'm pretty sure my baby has whooping cough! A couple of days after recovering from the stomach flu, he started this horrible choking cough that is so scary sounding! I looked up what kind of cough sounds like that and really the only answer is pertussis. So on the morning of Jan. 28, which was a Saturday, I took him to the doctor after a couple of long, horrible nights. I described in detail how the cough sounded, that he turned red, that it sometimes made him throw up, that he felt cold and lethargic after a fit, and that every time I thought he was going to stop breathing! Could he have whooping cough? No way. The doctor told me babies can't clear their throats and his looked a little red. He listened to his chest and said there was nothing wrong with him. I know it's not in his chest! I've had other babies with RSV and pneumonia and this is totally different! But baby, of course, isn't coughing while we're there so we're sent on our way. Oooohkay. More terrifying nights and I go in again on Wednesday morning to another doctor. I again describe the symptoms and add that he has no fever, seems relatively fine between episodes and ask again if it could be whooping cough because it fits the description. No possible way. There isn't any going around and baby seems fine, but here is some steroids for the cough that no one ever witnesses and some antibiotic for a slight ear infection. A little better I suppose. Another week goes by in which I've resigned myself to the fact that at any moment the baby could breathe his last and plan for a funeral and some dark days ahead. Some nights there are ten minute coughing fits every two hours and I cry and panic every time. I decided that he must be too cute and sweet for this world. A couple of times we almost take him to the ER, but he always stops before we get going and I know they will just give me quizzical looks for barreling in there with my bouncing chubby boy. I go in again on Feb. 10, and as he smiles and coos at the doctor I am patronizingly again given a clean bill of health. A few days go by, which I spend with my long, lost friend visiting for the weekend, and she is understandably quite alarmed by his cough and urges me to take him in again. I admit that I've become a little numb to it out of self-preservation because I feel so helpless! But call and go in one more time to see yet a different doctor on Valentines Day. She listens to my graphic description, compares it to the sweet baby talking away to her and says, "Hmmm, I wonder if it could be whooping cough." Finally! A doctor who knows something about a traditionally dreaded illness! How refreshing! She sends me to the hospital for some tests, which won't be conclusive until next week, and starts treating him for pertussis. She also tells me to find a video of someone with whooping cough coughing so I did that as soon as I got home -- bingo, on the nose! So after a few weeks, several visits and co-pays later, we are gratifyingly granted the obvious, and first arrived at by the ignorant, crazy mother, diagnosis. That is the good news. The bad news is that since the treatment is being administered so late it merely makes him not contagious without being able to alleviate the cough. It usually lasts about three weeks, which we're getting to, but can last several months (!) I hope, hope, hope we're nearing the end! 1 in 100 babies under one year old die and I can see why -- it is horrible and terrifying! So why didn't the doctors at least test my then not quite six month old when I first went in? Grrr. I'm just glad I have an answer because it was just stupid to think he could die simply because he couldn't clear his throat, but was otherwise the perfect picture of good health! I can't believe how much I just typed with one finger! In conclusion, although for the most part I follow an alternate vaccine schedule, I now have a testimony of the worthwhile-ness of the pertussis vaccine (of which he had had only one dose, not effective until three doses). And if you could please say a little prayer for his speedy back to normal-ness!

this moment

{this moment, a soulemama tradition}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

this moment

{this moment, a soulemama tradition}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.