Hold It

Owen and Daniel like holding their little brother.

Does Peter like it too? Hmm, not so much...

When Daniel wants a turn, he says "Hold it! Hold it!" He wants to hold "it", aka this little human, his brother named Peter. I trust that Daniel will learn his name soon enough.

Natalie likes to hold him too. She is an attentive big sister, though I don't think she has the arm strength to carry him around like she thinks she can. She's a little too confident for her abilities

I'm glad they love him.

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.

Playing Family

This morning I ran out to IKEA to drop off a package for Joseph. It was just a small package, less than 3 pounds. He requested a foot file, so we sent that, Valentine letters the kids wrote, and I also printed this talk by Lawrence Corbridge called "Stand Forever". Corey shared it with me last week. I listened to it a few times in the early morning nursing hours, but I'd doze off or it just wouldn't really be hitting me, but then I listened to it as I cleaned the basement this past week and it finally spoke to me. The climax of the message for me, especially as I thought of the wonder of our new infant -

We may all be taken back from time to time by the extraordinary—such as walking on water, multiplying bread and fish, raising the dead, translating gold plates with special lenses or a stone and hat, and the visitation of angels. Some people are hard-pressed to believe extraordinary things. While it is understandable that we may be challenged by the extraordinary, we shouldn’t be, because ordinary things are actually far more phenomenal.

The most phenomenal occurrences of all time and eternity—the most amazing wonders, the most astounding, awesome developments—are the most common and widely recognized. They include: I am; you are; we are; and all that we perceive exists as well, from subatomic particles to the farthest reaches of the cosmos and everything in between, including all of the wonders of life. Is there anything greater than those ordinary realities? No. Nothing else even comes close. You can’t begin to imagine, much less describe, anything greater than what already is.

In light of what is, nothing else should surprise us. It should be easy to believe that with God all things are possible.

The healing of the withered hand is not nearly as amazing as the existence of the hand in the first place. If it exists, it follows that it can certainly be fixed when it is broken. The greater event is not in its healing but in its creation.

I loved it. It is all amazing. With all the things that could possibly go wrong in child bearing and birth, it's a wonder anyone is born at all - but look around at all the people that beat the odds! Each one with a beating heart and lungs that breath, blood that carries the oxygen to the brain, letting us think and reason, work and do... What a miracle life is. Caterpillars and plants (Romanesco broccoli!), and the culmination of creation - you and me. Not to mention that the circumstances are just right for life to exist on this floating marble in the first place - I totally agree with him, that "in light of what already exists, nothing else should surprise us." Amen. Anyway, awesome talk, go give it a listen. We also thought it went along with some things Joseph asked Corey last week, and also just cause it's awesome. So, we sent off a package, and when I came home, I saw these two cuties in a game. I used to call it "House" when I was a kid - we'd play house. But Natalie said "We are playing 'Family!'"

Daniel was being so sweet with his baby doll.

He is careful with Peter too, but I just don't let him get that close or spend much time with him. But Daniel asks to hold Peter, by saying "Hold it! Hold it!" I try to let them hold him if I can, but it's hard - cause if Peter is awake, he's usually wants to eat and will cry if I make him wait so his siblings can pass him around. He was accommodating to Owen this afternoon, and Owen was delighted.

You're holding Baby Peter! What a good brother.

Cute boys.

One last bit about Peter - he has little dark hairs on his ears that we think are adorable. You might need to zoom in, but it's cute/funny, our little hairy man.

I was focusing on his ear as I nursed him today - he was holding my fingers, I love it.

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.

Day Off

The kids were up early to get ready for school this morning. I got a text from my mom that school was cancelled for the elementary school, but not for the high schooler's district. So I went out to shovel. On Wednesdays, Wesley goes early for SBO, so Ethan takes him when he leaves for jazz band. They usually leave at 6:20. Wes doesn't have to be there until 7, but it saves us a trip. so he goes early with Ethan. I was out shoveling the snow in the driveway so their car could get out, and it was deep. And the road hadn't been plowed yet. And it was still coming down. I had a feeling it would take me a lot time to shovel (our snowblower we bought last year is broken, so annoying) and that even if I did clear a path for them in the driveway, the car would not make it up the street. So I came back in with a prayer in my heart that school would be cancelled. Ethan told me that jazz band was cancelled. Yay, that gives us a little more time to hope they cancel the whole thing. We were coordinating carpool (I take on Wednesdays) and my nice neighbors with 4 wheel drive offered to take. But I was still hoping the whole thing would be cancelled, cause it did not look like good driving conditions. At 6:30 we got the lovely call "School will be cancelled today due to severe weather conditions..." Yay! A Snow day! The last time that Skyline had a day off for snow was in 1993 when I was in high school! I remember that day - I had a paper due in Mr. Westergard's class that I hadn't finished. It felt like an answer to prayer to have school cancelled. And so I played out in the snow all day building forts and didn't get my paper done anyway. Sound like a teenager? Yeah. So the kids were happy and all the teenagers excitedly went back to their rooms and attempted to go back to bed. But I heard them chit chatting and laughing - it took them a short while to calm down - they were too excited to fall back asleep! Owen had woken up. I tried to lay down on the couch with Peter and fall back asleep. Owen stayed next to me but he didn't fall asleep. I usually have my phone close by when I migrate and feed the baby during the night. In these early morning hours, Owen has started to take my phone and take funny selfies...

...and unflattering pictures of me. So I didn't get any pictures of the kids playing outside, but Abi and Wes worked on a fort, Wes and Hyrum cleared off the driveway - our piles of snow are over 5 feet high again! And our busy afterschool Wednesday turned into a lazy day around the house - Lyceum was cancelled, LBB was cancelled, Ethan's Crescent rehearsal was cancelled, and I figured I'd join the bandwagon and cancelled Abi's orthodontist appointment, cause no one wants to go drive in this mess. The little girls were lost in games today - Natalie was making "new characters" with legos - she was so lost in play it seems like we hardly saw her today. A few more funny pics - Daniel watching Leap Frog Letter Factory video - with spy glasses on (made us all chuckle)...

And Melodie played a prank on several of her siblings and her father - she got this Barbie head thing (that Sophi got for her birthday) and gave it a hoodie, pants, and shoes, and put it in people's closets. Here she is after she scared Ethan.

The barbie is holding out her hands to get her nails done, but most of the boys agreed she looked more like the Emperor from Star Wars ready to give an electric shock. Ethan got the biggest scare but agreed it was funny, and then they went to set it up in our closet to scare Corey. It was fun to have life cancelled today for most of us (except for Corey who never gets a break) It was nice to have a surprise day off.

Popcorn Popping

Lily came home sick from school yesterday. She seemed fine to me though, as she proceeded to play legos and sing songs with Owen. Seems like we've been sick for the past two weeks, but they're not that sick, so I hesitate knowing what to do. I don't want to not listen to them if they feel ill, but I've been telling them that if they come home they have to stay in their bed and rest. Anyway, yesterday when Lily was home "sick" she was leading Owen in song and took this video of him doing Popcorn Popping.

I got a kick out of Daniel in the background (chocolate pudding on his face)

(Lily is ALWAYS taking my phone and making videos or taking pictures of herself...)

I usually just delete all of them, cause if I kept them, there would be hundreds of pointless pictures (no offense Lil) or really long videos that take up too much storage space. But maybe you've got a future in videography or something.

Going Outside

Today was actually a pretty productive day. The kids were up for school, I fed Peter, he fell asleep while I exercise around 8, and then he just kept sleeping. He was nice and cozy in his carseat and he slept until 1! I got a lot done - cleaning and laundry and dishes and I scrubbed out the sink. As I was going about being happy to make progress on the house, I came downstairs and saw that Natalie and her little brothers were all dressed up and ready to go outside. Natalie had gotten them all ready!

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Super cute, I'm impressed Natalie! "Where are you guys going?"

She said they had to go outside and get the scarf - a scarf that had been left outside that was now revealed because almost all the snow had melted.

I watched them go get the scarf, and then they walked into the backyard. I told them to stay in the backyard. They jumped on the trampoline, I loaded the dishwasher, they turned on the hose, I went and turned it off. Lily stayed home sick today, although she mostly played legos) and I asked her to go see if they were still doing okay. She said yes. I went to check, and they were gone. I looked in the front yard and back, no sign of the toddlers. I called one neighbor to the east - they weren't there. I started to walk over to check at our west neighbor's yard, but a lady who had been outside said she saw them but they didn't come that way. So back west and across the street over to another neighbor's house - and I saw Daniel's wet red mittens on her porch. Yay, my unattended children are safe. I knock. It was almost time for Natalie to go to school. "Natalie, you need to let me know where you are going..." My neighbor apologized (I said shouldn't have, this was all on me) - she has asked Natalie if I knew where she was and Natalie said yet. She apologized that she didn't text me to let me know, but again, this was my bad. So we got shoes on and hurried home to get her backpack and stuff. I could do better, but know I'm doing about as best as I can keeping track of these kids. I'm grateful for nice neighbors who help me out.

So, it's been warm, which usually means there's a big storm coming, so we'll see. Things are good. I'm still just taking it easy, trying to soak up this time with Peter while also trying to not let the house or life fall totally apart. I'm getting pretty okay sleep, meaning if I get 3 almost straight hours I'm happy. Peter seems to nurse all night. If that means I'm able to get stuff done during the day, that might be a good trade off. He's a cutie.

All State Jazz Band

So Corey went to St. George this weekend to take Ethan to the All State Jazz Band performance. I think they had night of get to know you on Thursday, rehearsed Friday, and then another rehearsal this morning and then the performance, but I'll have to ask Ethan to know for sure.

Corey took the girls to some Get Out Pass places today while they waited for Ethan's show time. They tried out an Escape room. Our first time - Corey said they were lucky to be with a group of older kids who knew what they were doing, or else they might never have gotten out. Still, it was fun

Corey then took these girls out to lunch at the Pizza Factory.

Enjoying their slurpees

Not sure what the telephone book pics were for, but Corey took several of these:

After lunch, they went out to a Parkour place with the get out pass.

I like the get out pass - I think it's a good deal for our family and that it also helps us to get out.

Ethan's performance - The Utah Music Educators Association

Our musician on tenor sax

Here is a clip of one of their songs - Ethan has a solo beginning at minute :55

Quiet House

Corey is in St. George with Ethan for the All State Jazz Band performance. They left yesterday around 12:30. They took Abi, Lily, and Sophi with them. So things seem quiet around here, which is a nice change. Mel just arrived in Colorado for an flute audition tomorrow morning with CU Boulder. I took her to the airport around 3:10, and then had to take Wes straight down to Little Big Band which was inconveniently moved to today at 4. So we were in the car or on the go for 4.5 hours. We left home around 2:45 and got back home at 7:15 pm. But knowing it was going to be a busy afternoon, I put Owen and Daniel down for their naps early and spent time making sure Peter was nice and full before we left.

(He's so cute)

Just a little angel! And such big beautiful eyes!

I took NODP (NatalieOwenDanielPeter) to Costco while we waited for Wes to finish at Little Big Band. Thankfully Peter slept almost the whole time, so I didn't have to stop and nurse him there. We finished up at Costco and then went to wait in the band parking lot for 45 min and I fed Peter more there. I grabbed Rice Krispy treats to keep the kids happy in the car and as we finished up our errand. But healthy Daniel didn't finish his treat, he wanted a tomato instead! Such a healthy kid.

I was curious for Wes to finish so I could see how he was doing. Before he got to band, after we dropped off Mel at the airport, I looked back and Wes was red in the face and in tears and asked if we could go home. "Are you sick?" No... "What happened?" Can we just go home? "Do you need to throw up?!?" I didn't know what was going on, but he was fine just 5 minutes ago... "Was it a text?" Yes. His friends had been hanging out together and they texted him to let him know that they played spin the bottle and the girl Wes likes kissed 3 guys and they were going to just do cheeks but the rules were changed and peer pressure was on and she kissed 3 of Wesley's friends on the lips. He felt totally betrayed. "They all know we like each other!" Well, I'm sorry you're upset buddy, but going home and just sitting there thinking about it is not going to be good for you, so I think I'm going to still take you to band even though everyone will be able to tell that you've been crying. (Is it okay that I'm documenting this, Wes?)

I called Corey to make sure he was in agreement that it was in his best interest to still go to band. We talked on the drive down about kissing and not just hanging out with friends if there's not a good activity planned, etc etc. So a bit of drama going on here with my boys. So, for the next 24 hours I'm here with Hyrum and Wes and 4 little kids. I'm slightly irritated that my two good girl helpers are BOTH gone - Abi and Mel. So I'm still having to keep Peter safe from his toddler sibling. Hyrum and Wes play really nicely with Owen and Daniel, but I'm not getting anything done even though I "only" have 6 kids at home. But that's okay. Everyone will be back tomorrow evening. We'll see if I'm able to accomplish anything in the next 24 hours.

Sweet Little Head

Ethan has All State Jazz band in St. George this weekend. Corey took him down today, they left at 11. They took Abi, Lily, and Sophi with them. Natalie decided to stay home because she didn't want to miss a birthday party for her friend on Saturday. So the house is a lot quieter with just seven kids! It has slowed down a little bit and I'm able to soak up this time with Peter just a little bit more. I was holding him steady this evening, and he held his head up using my cheek as some support. I got this picture of him in the mirror -

Isn't he cute!? What a sweet little head. He is so pretty!

Something else fun today - I got a flower delivery from our orthodontist!

Have I ever mentioned that we love McDonough Orthodontics?

They are so nice.

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!