Not Getting Much Done

Hi. Still not getting a lot done around the house, as is to be expected with a newborn. The kids have coughs and I've gone to the elementary school to pick up a kid everyday so far this week - They go in the morning and are okay - they are taking turns (probably would have picked up someone yesterday too had it not been cancelled) Today I picked up Sophi just a half hour before it was out anyway, kinda lame, but when they call saying to come get your kid you gotta do it. They already missed quite a few days from staying home coughing, and then they'll play legos and won't really seem that sick, so I hesitate to have them stay home too much even though the cough does sound bad. Plus they missed school for St. George. So, I'm trying to keep Peter safe from their germs and have said they can't hold him if they're coughing. So they watch as their siblings hold him...

I'm also trying to keep blankets clean and telling them to not use the blankets I use for Peter. Luckily they have other baby brothers to love and play with. And look at this - they'll even pretend to be really little babies for you! Aww, look at itty bitty baby Daniel!

I guess he's wanting some baby of the family attention. Or maybe the car seat is just really comfy. It probably is a comfortable place, especially with the visor down to make it a little space for a little boy. You're cute Daniel. What else - I did make my bed today, yay, and a bigger win was that I cleaned the toilets. And with that we'll call it good and say it has not been a wasted day.

Melodie is 22!

Happy Birthday to Melodie! It was fun having her here to celebrate her special day. We toyed around a bit with the idea of going swimming, but when it was 11 and we still hadn't decided, we figured it was a bit late to get in a full day, so we're saving it for another time. So we decided to go out to lunch. Corey stayed home with the boys, Katharine joined us. Her sweet little baby face!

We went to Bandits. I like Bandits. I got my usual Farmer's Harvest Salad with shrimp. Mel got that too. Good stuff. 

They brought Katharine a high chair - Katharine killed time by tasting the chair. 

She also tried slapping the table to call the waiter to serve us. That didn't work, so then she played with the little black papers from around our napkins. She found that to be pretty entertaining.

Mel and I were both just adoring her the whole time. Babies are so beautiful. It's so fun. Mel adoring Katharine again this evening after she got her to sleep in a chair in the front room.

Mel was painting her fingernails! Haha, Katharine holding the little nail file - so fun. She's our favorite!

So, my mom didn't come by today, and that was ok - she thought Mel was down at school. But I didn't get a cake, cause I kinda don't like cake, and Mel didn't mind cause we had already had a nice meal together. But the little kids said we needed cake. Daniel took matters into his own hands with some playdoh. Presenting Mel's birthday cake!

We sang Melodie a song - 

And she posed with the cake - 

Daniel was so pleased with himself and that his cake offering was so graciously received. 

And Melodie was getting a big kick out of  it. Such a sad little cake!

Sorry Mel, I guess I could have/should have gotten you a birthday dessert. 

Happy Birthday Mel! I think taking college kids out to eat for their birthday might be a good "gift". Corey already got Joseph something for his birthday (a bike rack) so we'll let him have that as a gift but then it might just be dinner date gifts. Corey also wants Joseph to forgive us/never mention again that we gave him our old piano as a birthday present. ...that was my fault. We were ready to get rid of it, he said he'd like it, then I said "hey, can that count as your b-day present?" so that was tacky, and he's never let us forget it. But honestly, we do and have done so much for them anyway, do we really "owe" them a gift every year? We don't expect or demand anything from them, we're still raising 8 more kids at home... go easy on us. We're hoping to have enough money to retire someday! Ok, we'll Mel, thanks for being so chill and mellow for us, we appreciate it! You're the best.

BYU Tour and Naps

Corey gave a lecture today for Dr. Dyer's business strategy class at BYU and invited Mel and Ethan to come with him. They took a tour of BYU and now Mel officially has senior-itis. Ethan is excited too, cause after Corey's class lecture there was no quiz and they just had a discussion - with excitement he declared "College is gonna be a breeze!" Corey's glad they are both pumped about being cougars. Now they just need to be accepted!

He took them to lunch at the Skyroom Restaurant.

Mel should hear back next month, and then Corey will officially turn all his attention to getting Ethan ready to launch

Here are a few pictures of what my day looked like - Owen right before I woke him up from his nap:

Sweet Peter snuggled in for one of his many naps -

Natalie slept a lot today too - she fell asleep this morning before school, and then layed down on our floor after she got home. She feels a bit warm, I think she's sick.

Tonight I was feeling frustrated as I simultaneously got dinner ready (rice bowls), and tried to get kids to clean up a bit. Dinner was served, but the cleaning up part went unsuccessful. I feel like we need some "how to run a home and teach kids how to work" tutorials or lessons from someone, cause so often I feel like I don't know what I'm doing or how to teach them what to do. Sigh. Here's a funny picture of Peter, looking how I feel - like he's exasperated with all of us!

We just keep doing our best. One kinda funny multitasking moment for me: After dinner I was sitting on the couch nursing Peter and had Daniel came up at my side and proceeded to drive a toy car up my left arm, down my leg, back up onto Daniel's head...

...that while on my right side I'm helping Sophi with her reading list/power words/speed timer.

I hardly get a moment to do any physical work around here (laundry, dishes, clean room) cause I'm trapped with a baby on my chest or in my arms. And many of my sitting down moments look like that. It's tricky figuring it out. Hard sometimes, although I'm much happier to have the baby out than in. After Mel got home from work (Costa Vida) she helped me by holding Peter -

thus I am very pleased to report that I did clean up our bedroom (floors only) AND was able to vacuum it, so that's a big win.

Mel is one of the few kids that I don't worry about her holding Peter and him being happy and safe with her. I think he can tell she's a natural mother (she's had the most practice with her younger siblings). Her snuggling with our little sleeping pill ended as it usually does when the kids hold babies around here ~

While I was cleaning a, Corey was helping Hyrum in our room to work out his registration for school next year. Owen and Sophi were laying close by, making sure Corey didn't get far from their reach. I felt Owen and he seems a bit warm with a fever too. Winter sick bugs are making the rounds around here. We'll see how tomorrow goes with that.

Lucky Girls

Natalie said the cutest thing this morning as she held Peter -

"Girls are lucky, cause they get to grow up and be a mom and have a baby and get to look at it and hold it so much!!!" Yes, all my daughters are jealous of me and how much time I get to hold the baby. Here are a few precious pictures of Natalie holding Peter last Friday after school.

He was awake and staring up at her.

Yes, we've got a little future mother on our hands. She loves babies!

Today at the bus stop I was sharing with another mom what Natalie said, and Natalie continued her happiness - "Girls are the best! I always wanted to be a girl!" She's right - being a girl and being a mom is the luckiest! 

My Favorite Career

I'm on week 2 of my new life system of planning and cleaning and being on top of it, and it is good.  I totally loved Stephanie Nielsen's post today - Motherhood really is a great job.  It's my favorite and I love that I'm learning how to do it better.  (Here's a link to the things I've started so far with my new system, it's going great!)

I also totally laughed inside as I saw all the faces of her kids when they were younger, so cute, all those little chubby faces.  Made me smile, so I thought I'd copy cat her and share my crew from their chubby face days of yester-year:

Starting off - the two cutest babies in the world (Irish twins too!) Joseph and Melodie

Joseph - inquisitive, humble, always learning.
Melodie - you're cuter than your baby guinea pigs.  A nurturing little mother in the making.
Ethan - a little curious monkey, ready to tease and play at any moment.  That face spells trouble right there I tell ya.

Hyrum (dressed as pirate Smee for Halloween) - humble, quiet, watchful, and as stubborn as his dad.

Wesley joined the crew - what a happy baby!

He is pure boyhood - dirt and sweets and imagination.

Then Abi - there's a little girl that was ready to keep up with Ethan's mischief - always busy wanting to go and do and see

that hair is just so cute on Abi - what a little face

 Lily - she is meek and mild, and likes to draw on everything.

And lastly our current perfect angel, Sophia.  Oh she's such a pretty baby, I could just kiss her!

I love being a mom. 

Baby Taking Care of Babies

When we got home from our bike ride this morning, Sophi was holding Katharine, and Katharine was holding three Beanie Boo baby toys. 

She seemed very content and happy to have something to take care of. 

And Katharine has been a bit clingy the past little while, and after seeing her love on these animals this morning, I am thinking maybe she just needs a responsibility? 

Like she just needs someone/something to take care of?

She was very content holding this baby sloth, little panda, and koala bear. She kept them close all during breakfast. 

Abi used to be a very affectionate mother to her dolls. Lily had a motherly phase too, as did Natalie with her "baby". Cute. We'll see if one of these animals becomes Katharine's favorite. 

Owen had his trumpet lesson today after school. We listened to Wreck It Ralph in Spanish in the car, cause I decided I'm tired of listening to it in English, but it would be fun if we were able to learn it in Spanish! So I've been subjecting the kids to that on repeat this past week. After trumpet, we took Daniel to soccer practice, and I had Owen and Peter come with me. We've made a new rule that Owen can only play outside at friend's houses, because we think he has been playing too many video games over there. So I took him to soccer to keep him away from screens. At the park, he conquered his fear of the fireman's pole and he was able to do it! I did the monkey bars until my palms were hurting - trying to keep my hands and arms strong and hopefully be able to keep up with my climbing that way. Owen wasn't able to do the monkey bars, but did great on the pole, so that was a step in the right direction. I also pushed O and P on the swings. Then they made pillows for themselves in the woodchips so they could take a nap.

It's good having time at the park. My BeReal with Peter - 

We have a morning dove nest in our back yard, and you can see it from the little deck off of our bedroom. After Daniel's soccer practice, the kids were playing in the back yard with Corey and called to me because they found a flightless bird. I saw it and knew it was one of the morning dove birds. Super cute and fluffy. It took me two fails before I was able to pick it up, and then I passed it to Natalie to hold while I went and got the ladder from the garage. Corey then found another baby bird but that one was dead. It was stiff and cold so it had been dead for a little while, I don't know if the cats got it, or if the kids somehow hurt it playing in the backyard. We buried that one, and then before getting the ladder I went to our room to look at the nest to see if the mother was there. And that was when I noticed the mother on our deck! She had been watching her baby the whole time. 

I was able to put the baby back in the nest and we're hoping it's ok. 

I googled a bit for info if I had made a mistake by touching it. It looked pretty big and feathery, so I think it was 12-14 days old. Sweet morning dove. Then Abi wanted to go to the temple. Sophi and Lily went with her. I took them, so that Corey could stay home and play with the boys. I took my bike, but it was raining, so I didn't ride it. I just took a walk in the rain. The temple looked beautiful.

I got cold and went but kept walking until I found the remains of two deer in the same spot - wondering if it was near a cougar den or something, yikes, so then I hurried back to the car and waited for the girls for 45 min. Note to self - keep a dress in the car in case I ever have a last minutes chance to go to the temple. 

Precious Life

These three girls decided to go to church as Guatemala girls yesterday. Katharine didn't match in her pastel pink, but that's ok.

Natalie and Lily are wearing shirts that Joseph gifted them from one of his trips to Guate, but Abi, you can't fool me! Your shirt is Burmese! Ler and December (last pic) gave that to us, or Ler's brother did. Ok, we'll let is slide, Abi was wearing her Guatemala backpack. 

I take my bag with tipica to church every Sunday, it's one that I ordered from Titia's bags- the lady who makes these was in Joseph's ward or something when he was a missionary. Katharine being cute at church - pretty bow on my pretty 3 month old.

She was freaking out last night in a very uncharacteristic way and I took her on a walk to try and calm her down, and her face was all blotchy. She seriously cried from 3:30 - 4:30 yesterday! I'm wondering if she ate something that made her uncomfortable or itchy? 

If she did I don't know what it was. She might just be red cause she was crying so much. But she recovered and today she's been find, so I don't know what that was all about. My poor baby. She was just trying out what it is like to throw a fit. I'm guessing she thinks it's over rated. It's better to just be an angel baby. 

I'm really behind on the blog, and yesterday I finally finished July, yikes I'm always playing catch up. I do want to record memories for my kids though, so I'll keep at it. (And actually, truth be told, today is actually November 21st!! But I wrote on my notes for September 11 that I finished blogging July, so yeah, I'm still way behind! I think I'll blame my now almost 6 month old baby. Now, pretending I'm in the past again...) Let's talk about butterflies! "Yesterday" I didn't release any, but today we had one male emerge. 

They're just so cool and beautiful. 

I've got 2 chrysalides, three big cats, 4 medium, 5 small, and my 17 babies (I hope... they're too small to count). These four were so cute! I loved seeing them all munching away, so I made a short video. Cuties.

I love my caterpillars and butterflies!

I love my kids too. Peter being cute at violin today, playing with puzzles. 

There is so much beauty to enjoy in this world, even when there are hard and horrible trials and events too. I did think about 9/11 yesterday. We didn't watch anything, but my heart is with those who were so greatly affected by the events of that day. I am grateful that we were able to go to the World Trade Center Memorial and Museum last year. All things will be made right through Christ. I'm grateful for my one precious life.