Turkey Fest 2009

Our Thanksgiving weekend was a great one. We spent Thanksgiving with Tim's family this year and the food and company were good. However, I did miss seeing my out-of-state-er sibs. Siblings are fun because they have known you for so long that sometimes I think they are the only people that really "get" me. I often refrain from saying the things I am thinking because I'm not sure how they will be received. Sometimes this makes me tired. Mentally filtering what I should and should not say. With my siblings I have no such fear and I fly my freak flag with pride....and they enjoy it. So I missed you guys.....tear.

Milestones were hit like bowling pins around here this weekend. You could almost say we scored a turkey. Get it? Really, a lot can change in just one holiday weekend. Here is the list....starting with the youngest.

Claire -

Claire cut her two bottom teeth. I knew all the drool wasn't for nothing. Gage has been on a tooth watch for a couple of days and on Thanksgiving morning he was finally rewarded with two little white bumps.

I know you will think I'm crazy for saying so, but Claire can say, "Hi and Mom." It's not like it is super clear, but she is saying the sounds and at the appropriate moments. If' I'm wrong just let me bask for a moment in thinking that Claire is a genius. Gage spoke very clearly at a young age and everyone thought I was crazy then too.

Claire had her first taste of solid food on Saturday. I think more ended up on her face but she was very eager and opened wide to get it in. By the way, have you ever tasted rice cereal? I tasted some and it is so gross.

Luke -

Luke went pee in his potty. We did the pee dance and sang,

"I know where to put my pee

put me pee in the potty!"

He was very proud of himself and I'm salivating at the thoughts of only having to buy and change one kid's diaper.

Luke has really discovered Christmas this year. Last year I guess he was still too young and he was sick on Christmas day so it just didn't click. We watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas while Tim was at Turkey LAN 2009 with Wes, and Luke kept saying, "Gagey, this is Christmas?" It was pretty cute.

Gage -

Gage has had a special blanket since he was a baby. It is his ultimate comfort item. On Saturday, he was lamenting about all the holes it has in it and I told him I thought it was probably about time to put his blanket away and he got down on the floor and lovingly folded it up. I was thinking to myself, "Wait a minute. Just like that you are giving it up?" I started to have tears in my eyes as well at the thought that he was so grown up he didn't need it anymore and then I heard him sniffling in the hall and he said he wasn't ready to give it up. So I guess in Gage's case we had an almost milestone.

Jess -

For the very first time I went shopping on Black Friday. I was up feeding Claire and she took forever and I thought, "I'm already up, I might as well just go." So I did, and poor Tim called me an hour later wondering where I was and hoping I hadn't done anything "crazy." I have yet to find out what he thought I might do. I only hit one person with my cart....by accident and I think I got some good deals. I won't do it again though. It wasn't that great....probably funner if I went with someone.

I have been on a jeans quest for several months now. Tim and Andrea have tried in vain to help me find some jeans I feel flattered in. Although I did buy two pairs with Andrea that I took back later. Saturday I had victory! I purchased two pairs and saved over 50 bucks in the process and I feel great. I never knew finding a pair of jeans could make me so happy!

Tim -

I had to stretch to think of a milestone for Tim. He is solid, like a rock. He did however buy himself some orange shoes. No, you didn't read that wrong. They are indeed Orange....like the fruit. I think they are pretty funky. Tim is very conservative in his fashion tastes and I said I liked the shoes...and he bought them. It was rather shocking.

p.s. Still experiencing formating problems. Anyone know why a post looks one way when you write it and anther way when you actually post it?

Puple Sausage

My brother-in-law is having a hard time comprehending just how pudgy Claire actually is. Rach gave me some of her daughter's clothes that she was wearing last spring and they now fit Claire. The reason this is hard to believe is because Piper is 18 months old. After Rach's visit this month Chris was asking her how chubby Claire really is. I thought I would help him understand.

Claire is so pudgy that at church on Sunday I looked down to find her arm looking like a big purple sausage. Why did it look that way? Well, because the sleeve of her dress was cutting off her circulation. The dress is a 12 month. Yup, she's worn it twice....she is 5 months old! I feel like I have been on a backpacking trip for the last 3 months. You'd think after two other chubby babies I would remember how your arms shake and your back hurts after carrying them around. It has been a surprise, so I guess I suppressed that memory. Claire fell asleep on my shoulder at church and I was in physical pain by the time Tim came and took her from me. My arm stiff and starting to get sore and my left hand in claw. A Claire Claw...it went away after I got the feeling back a 1/2 hour later. Claire is so pudgy that her cheeks sit on her shoulder. So pudgy that stuff is growing in her rolls. Ok, eww. But it is hard to get in there. So pudgy that one leg has one more roll than the other leg.

So pudgy that I could squeeze her all day even if I do get a claw. So pudgy that her cheeks are chapped from me kissing them all the time.

Little Laughs

About 2 seconds after this video was taken Claire collapsed into hysterical crying. I guess it's a fine line between joy and pain.

Little Prayers

Last night I had Family Home Evening with the boys. Tim was working late and so I decided to do the talking while they ate their dinner in an attempt at crowd control. This is a stragey I reccommend to anyone with smaill children. When the mouth is full of food you can't talk or giggle at inappropriate times. Also, they stayed in their seat. It was truly inspirational!

One of the most rewarding things for me as a mom is to watch as my children develop their testimonies. We were talking about gratitude and Gage told me that today for his share time at school they are supposed to say two things they are grateful for. He told me he is thankful for Heavenly Father. I wonder what his teacher will think of that? When Gage is having a hard time I will often see his lips moving and he tells me his is saying a prayer. It really makes me happy that he knows where he can turn for comfort and help.

Luke gave the closing prayer for our FHE and usually his prayers are really spastic. With an amen thrown in as an after thought. Last night he gave a really thankful prayer and I thought I would share...

Thank you we could have money and Grandpa Burt. (not sure how these two go together)

Thank you that we could talk to Pam.

Thank you we can sing songs at primary.

Me? I'm just thankful to call these two mine!

This Is Your Brain on Three Kids

I used to pride myself on my organization. Generally I felt on top of everything. If I said I was going to do something....I did it. My posts used to make sense and do I flatter myself that they used to be somewhat witty? I used to be able to concentrate on what others were saying on the phone and I didn't used to say, "What?" all the time. I used to walk into a room and know exactly why I was there. Are those days gone forever? Yes, yes I think they are.

I'm the secretary for the Primary and I'm sure the president is starting to wonder why she called me. When the call was extended, the bishopric guy was telling me how they needed someone who was very organized and I thought to myself, "you came to the right place!" Boy was I wrong. I miss my meetings all the time. Not because I don't want to go but because I simply forget. If it weren't for my sweet neighbor who calls and reminds me I'm sure I'd have missed them all. I'm trying to learn all the kids names and I can't do it! This has never happened to me before. Not to mention that just as I was getting all the teachers names down they have reorganized the entire primary board and I look lost. I told the presidency I was going to start wearing a name badge that said, "I'm new here...I have no idea what I'm doing."
They all laughed but in their minds they must be thinking that excuse is wearing thin since we've been here for 6 months.

I had my first parent teacher conference last week. Am I on glue or was it just yesterday that my mom was going to my parent teacher conferences and I was scared that my teacher was going to tell her I talked all the time instead of doing my work. I felt like I was in about the 6th grade as I sat on my little chair in front of his teacher. Gage's teacher was talking to me and all I was thinking was, "Man, I'm really old and totally not qualified to be a parent....I'm sure she just asked me about my goals for Gage's academics this year...I wish she would pull up her shirt because I'm sure that Tim can see her belly button through her cleavage." And then of course I said, "What?" Gage is doing very well...reading at the level he should be at the end of the year, math is above grade level, writing could use some work, a little shy but very mature, needs to make more friends but all the boys he wants to play with go to day-care or to an empty house after school. What?

Tim and I went shopping....for clothes for ourselves...over the weekend and it was horrifying. Both of us looked around at the people at the mall and looked down at our own outfits and felt so unhip that we wanted to hide. But to get hip...you have to look ridiculous. Tim is not wearing skinny jeans. Neither am I for that matter. Skinny waved bye bye two kids ago. The long sweaters and leggings really don't cover my religion or my cellulite. We ended up buying Tim just one pair of jeans and me some sunglasses. Shoes I still understand. I found lots of shoes I wanted to buy but no jeans that would fit over my hips and not fall off my rear when I sat down. Tim suggested that we start shopping at Pendletons. I'm not quite ready for that but like most things in my life right now I'm at a loss of where I should shop. I'm not ready for the mom jeans but I may be gaining an understanding of what forces some women to turn to them. Did I really just say that?

Remember do-overs? That was the best in elementary school when you royally botched a kick-off or hitting the ball with the bat....you'd just call out, "do over!" Everyone knew what you meant and let you try again. I wish I could get some do-overs. First on my list is my hair. I got highlights. Despite my vow not to let the lady give me blond highlights...here they are...great orange stripes. Do-Over! Second, the rude things I said to my neighbor about the woman who owned this house before me. Do-Over! Third, cutting the boys hair. Gage's hair looks really good except for over his right ear where I had the attachment for the clippers going the wrong way and he now looks like the Fresh Prince of Bell-air. Do-Over!

If this post makes no sense, don't worry. It doesn't make any sense to me either. What?

Halloween

Halloween this year was a bit of bummer. I feel bad about that because Gage loves Halloween....perhaps more than Christmas. He got sick the week of Halloween so we had to miss our friend's Halloween party and my sister's Halloween party. Gage got well just in time to go to his parade at school but I still had a fever so I had to miss that. Traditionally we have gone to Tim's sister's house for dinner and the cousins go trick or treating together with the Dad's and Claire and I had to miss that too because Claire was still under the weather! She and I had a girls night and hung out at home. It was fun to pass out candy to our trick-or-treaters though because I have never done that before. Since we've been married we lived in apartments and we didn't get trick-or-treaters at our old house. We had a pretty steady stream here though and I was nervous when I had to stop answering the door for about 1/2 hour to put Claire to sleep and I heard one of the kids yell, "Trick!" I was expecting to have eggs on the door or something. I was annoyed when a kid wouldn't say Trick-or-Treat. Tim tells me I should have refused candy until they said the proper words but I didn't know that was within my power. Next year....look out!

Gage and Luke had fun trick-or-treating and Tim took a dutiful video for me. Which I appreciated. I had a very cute Bumble-Bee costume for Claire that I never even put on her because she was so cranky so I guess next year will be her official "First Halloween." I don't know what to do about the scrapbook.

I have to make a confession that for some reason I was afraid to be home alone on Halloween night. I kept turning on lights and reprimanding myself, but I was freaked out at every shadow and noise! I kept saying, "I'm 30 years old for heaven's sake!" I feel the same way every Christmas morning when I harbor some secret wish that I will find a gift from Santa that Tim knows nothing about. I know....I'm pathetic. I just have a few little parts I refuse to give up....even if I am 80 years old.

p.s. By way of reminding myself in case I can't tell from the pictures in the future. Gage was the Blue Power Ranger and Luke was a Nascar Driver. That is what Luke says he wants to be now. "A Nascar Driver who crashes." I was happier when he wanted to be a carpenter because that is safer.

Oink Oink!

The Swine Flu visited our house last week and boy was it fun! Gage was the first to come down with symptoms. It really freaked me at first because he was the most pathetic little thing you've ever seen. He threw up all over himself on the way to the doctor so I had to take him in wearing my jacket and nothing else. When I offered to carry him up the stairs he considerately told me that he would walk because he didn't want to get throw-up on me. I carried him anyway and pretended like I didn't feel or smell it! Anyway, he got on the Tamiflu and was starting to look and feel better about the time that Claire and I started feeling horrible.

My big mistake was not getting the Tamiflu for Claire and me. By that time I was too worn out to even drive in the car to go to a doctors. Poor Claire would just cry and whine when you moved her body....I think because she had body aches. My body had never ached like that before. I think I felt every injury I've ever had in my entire life. Tim had to stay home from work for 3 days and was the best nurse ever! He did go stir crazy and his patience wore very thin with the kids but he didn't complain. As always his immune system hit it out of the park and he never got sick. Luke had the vaccine and he never got sick either. So if you haven't had it yet and you can get a hold of the vaccine...get it! Claire is still getting over her cough and just started eating normally again yesterday.

I'm so thankful for my parents who braved the germs! Dad to help Tim give priesthood blessings and Mom to give hugs and bring groceries. My mom said her philosophy was, "She'd rather help us and catch it from us then stay away and catch it from the grocery store." For their Christ-like attitude they both stayed well thankfully. So now it's over and it doesn't seem like it was that bad...of course it is easy to think that now that we all feel better. I'm just glad to get it over with.

Gage fell asleep in this position a few times. Tim took it upon himself to document our Swine Flu experience. He knows better than to take a picture of me though. You'll just have to guess how unattractive I looked.

You can see how flushed she is in this picture. She just fell asleep right on the living room floor. Too sick to even complain about it. Poor little dear.