Caterpillar Pictures

When Brady was born, he was scrawny.  He weighed in at 6 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long.  We have lots of pictures of him, but none that show how skinny his chicken legs really were.  A couple of years later, somebody mentioned to me you needed something in the picture to show perspective, something that doesn't grow or change like a sibling or a parent.  We won a gift certificate to Nordstrom's at a company Christmas party.  (It was for $100 but that doesn't buy much there.  The $100 Target card would have been a much better prize.)  I ended up with a sweater and a pair of jeans with a little left over.  I found a caterpillar toy that I thought would work well for future babies.  It took a couple more years before those babies came, but they did and I started taking pictures of my babies once a month with the caterpillar.  Here's Isaac's pictures. 

1 Week



These pictures start at 1 week.  After that, it's monthly.  He had a haircut after month 6 and month 9.  Obviously, I'm not the best photographer, but it's fun to see the changes.  It's hard to believe how much he's grown!  I'll get the other three's pictures on here soon.

Skyscrapers

I really try not to focus too much on any one child, but it seems that one child has been the center of attention lately.  On Sunday Tyler did his best to entertain the congregation with a lap around the chapel.  (It was High Council Sunday, so who doesn't need a little entertaining during that?)  And since I was chasing him, it turned out to be a nice little race.  I was carrying Isaac, so I think I should have been the one with the head start though.  Fortunately, one of our neighbors added an obstacle to Tyler's course and he was returned to Lance.  I had lots of comments on how funny it was, so I guess he succeeded.  One of the Young Women was telling the story about it to those who weren't paying attention when it happened and she said I was "Church chasing" him.  You know trying to go fast, but looking reverent as you do it.  That might just be my favorite new phrase.

We went up to Temple Square to see the lights with my sister last night.  She's in town from Boise.  As we sat in traffic because of an accident for about 30 minutes (thank goodness for tv's in cars or I'm sure there would have been more than a couple meltdowns) Tyler asked me, "Is it American Fork?"  (Referring to a town nearby.)  I told him it was.  He said, "No, It's American Spoon!"  It was pretty adorable.  I could hear in his voice the cute little smile he had on his face.

After driving around trying to find a parking spot, and a stop at Maverik for a bathroom break, we finally made it.  While we were at Temple Square, Tyler really wanted to go into one of the "skyscrapers" and go up to the top.  I told him they were all locked and we couldn't go inside.  He said, "Yes we can.  We can just break one of the windows and go in!"  Of course.  What was I thinking?  He still wants to go in one.  He's asked me a couple of times today if we're going back up there to see the skyscrapers. 

These two are only about 3 months apart.  It seems my kids definitely got the tall genes and my sister's kids didn't.  Not that it's by any means her fault.  After all, she's only 5'6".

Tyler hates seeing his owies, especially if there's blood.  It really freaks him out.  He doesn't even like it if I want to look at it.  He always says, "Don't see it!" over and over.  Apparently, he's not going to be a doctor.  Neither will Brady.  After seeing a billboard on the way home he asked me what a colonoscopy is.  I told him.  He said he's never going to be a doctor or anything like it.  Mia wants to be a doctor though.  She wants to give shots.  She might be better off being a nurse.  They're the ones who end up inflicting all of the pain. 

Lip Gloss

Reason #23 that I'm glad we haven't replaced the carpet in my girl's room yet.  That's lip gloss that a cousin left at our house after Tyler found it.  It's gloppy, greasy and gross. 

And you want to know something, I didn't even try to clean it up.  It's been there for over a month too.  (Although, now that I've admitted that, I'll probably be trying very soon. It's kind of embarrassing.) It's in a corner that isn't used very much and I've just gotten to the point where I'm really good at ignoring things, especially when acknowledging them means I'm going to be pretty upset and I'll have to spend some significant time trying to clean it.  I have so many other things I'd rather be doing and quit a few I should be doing.

PB and J + Mustard

One night Tyler wanted a sandwich for dinner.  I asked him what he wanted on it.  He said he wanted peanut butter and jam.  Then he also got the mustard out of the fridge and told me he wanted that on it too.  I told him you don't put mustard on peanut butter and jam sandwiches.  Lance then informed me he'd been putting mustard on Tyler's sandwiches.  I'm not a mustard fan at all so the idea of adding mustard to anything is disgusting for me, but a peanut butter and jam sandwich?  That can't really be appealing to anyone.  He said he just puts it along the top and Tyler just licks it off and finishes the rest of the sandwich.  Doesn't that look appetizing?

Tyler ate it and was very pleased with it.  Well, he ate a few bites.  Then we had to go pick somebody up and he didn't get back to it.  I'd like to say this will not be a trend at our house when I'm in charge, but really, if he'll eat it, I'll probably make it.

During Thanksgiving break, I got the paints out and let my kids paint some Christmas ornaments I bought two years ago and didn't get around to last year.  Something about having a baby postponed that project.  I did really good and was able to let them paint them all by themselves instead of hovering and "fixing" things.  I did the glittering though.  I wasn't in the mood to clean up glitter as well.  I haven't taken a picture of their final products, but they turned out great had a lot of fun.

Last Friday we went up to Woods Cross for my nephew's birthday.  He died when he was 7 because of cancer so we gather at his grave.  It's an emotional time, but I'm so glad we do it.  His mom wrote the saying on the headstone.  It says, "I loved to tell jokes, and games I would play.  But my body had cancer, I just couldn't stay.  So Mom and Dad, and my brothers all three, Hold onto Christ, he's holding me."   

 We sent 14 balloons up to him.  (I added the Christmas decorations for security.  It's really sad how some people try to take advantage of other people's losses.)

There they go.  On a side note, this was after the huge windstorm they had up north.  There were tons of huge trees uprooted.  It was pretty crazy.

The next day we put up the Christmas tree.  Isaac loves this ornament ball.  He was throwing and chasing it all over.

Brady wouldn't look at me.  Another side note, he had just taken a shower.  He took care of our neighbor's chickens while they were out of town and somehow he ended up with chicken poo on the back of his leg. 

Tyler had a lot of fun. 

Mia was thrilled of course.  She loves holidays.  She's always looking forward to the next one.

Chloe had more fun than this picture shows.  She just got sick of me telling her I had to take another picture since they kept coming out blurry.  I was trying to take it without the flash. 

Yesterday, Isaac found himself a marker on the floor.  He had to take a bite to see if it tasted good.  Thank goodness for washable markers.

About a year ago I made these coat racks for my back door.  The nearest coat closet is upstairs and very small.  The piles of coats were driving me nuts.  I bought a board, cut it in half, had my brother router the edges for me then spray painted it oil rubbed bronze.  I was very pleased with myself and they worked really well for a while.

Except I made one mistake.  I didn't buy the heavy duty hooks.  I didn't think I needed them.  I never thought my then two year old would be so incredibly determined to get his own coat that he would break off the hooks.  I ended up with three hooks that looked like this.

So, while I was Lowe's getting a new door knob for my front door since the old one wasn't shutting all the way, which I installed by myself in about fifteen minutes, I found these hooks.  I thought 10 hooks would be enough for my kids, but it's amazing how many sweaters and jackets my girls have.  It probably took about ten minutes to change out the hooks.  I already love them.  Now maybe I'll be able to keep backpacks off the floor too.

And since I had my drill out, I took off the front panel of the washer to see why it's leaking.  I was secretly kind of hoping it would be something major so I'd have to get a new front loader, but it doesn't look like it.  See that gray thing at the bottom with the black hose going into it?  That's the washer pump and that's where the water's coming from.  According to some sites online, it's a relatively simple fix.  The part's only about $60 so I guess I'll save my money for Disneyland. 

Itty Bitty Football

In September Brady started flag football.  Every time we took him to practice, Tyler wanted to wear his football shirt and would ask me if it was his football.  The Legacy Center has a program for 3 and 4 year olds called Itty Bitty Football, so I signed him up thinking he would love it.  It's twice a week, an hour at a time and only 6 days total.  The first time he did really good.  He did all of the activites with the kids and had a great time.  The second time, I went upstairs with all of the other kids I had with me.  It's open to the gym downstairs so I could also watch Tyler.  Lance's mom showed up to walk the track so I talked to her for a minute.  When I looked down at Tyler, he was totally beside himself crying.  I went back downstairs as fast as I could, which wasn't very fast since I had a stroller and had to take the elevator.  Apparently, he just started crying.  Nobody knew what happened.  I think he looked for me and couldn't find me.  After that, he didn't enjoy it very much, even though I never went upstairs again.  That day was also picture day.  All of the kids got a shirt, then they took a team picture and an individual picture.  He refused to put the shirt on.  He still has never worn it.  He wouldn't get in the team picture and was refusing the individual picture too.  He was the last boy of the day, so I did my best to convince him to get his picture taken.  When I asked if he wanted a picture with everyone else, meaning everyone with us, he finally consented.  This is the picture I ended up with.

My three are in the middle and the two boys on the sides are cousins.  I can't believe how good they're all smiling.  Andrew even has his favorite pants on!  (There's a story behind those, but I won't go into that today.)  The picture is adorable and has a fun story behind it, so I'm glad I got it, even if he was put with the entirely wrong team.  I guess that's what happens when you don't stand in your team picture.

He only ever participated in one other activity.  They put stuffed animal things out on the floor.  The kids got to run to pick them up and run back to put them in the bag.  Basically, it was lines for kids (or ladders as I'm told they're called here).  I might have tried harder at lines if my coaches would've done that.  He really liked it.  Maybe he'll be a runner.  I always liked the running in basketball the best.

Usually, he preferred to play by himself.  Here he is playing dog. 

We definitely won't be doing Itty Bitty Basketball this year.  Maybe next year. 

Five years

Today, it's been five years since my dad died.  Most days I'm fine.  I don't have too much time to sit down and think about it, or maybe I choose not to so I don't have to feel the pain.  I don't like to cry, and that's generally what happens when I think about it.  Some days I really miss him.  I just want to call him on the phone and ask him a question or hear one of his cheesy jokes.  It's weird what triggers the tears.  Weird foods, driving, even restroom walls.  He was very fond of telling me he was going to start putting my number on restroom walls so I could get some dates.  He even had some guy call me up and ask me out, telling me he found my number on a restroom wall.  Of course, as soon as I heard that, I knew he was up to something.  Somehow he'd gotten a hold of a friend of my sister's roommate.  I don't remember the guy at all, just that my dad cared enough to set me up on a date with a strange guy he'd never met.  I bet you don't cry in the bathroom at random times.  In memory of him, here's a few pictures of his favorite things in life.

He loved nice cars,

hunting,

fishing,

my mom,

and his family.

Can you believe there's three kids in our family not even in that picture?  And I'm pretty sure I'm standing on something,  (I'm next to my mom, with the nice boy hair cut.) since my older brother is on my left.  I wasn't taller than him until I was at least 13. 

Catch Up

I need to play a little catch-up, so here's a few stories from the last few weeks.

For the first few weeks we took the kids to school, Tyler was very disappointed he couldn't go.  We kept telling him he has to be 5 to go to Kindergarten.  Now he's always asking, "Is he 5?  Is she 5?"  when we see kids. 

One night we were eating something with chocolate in it.  (I've already forgotten what it is.  I should have written about this sooner!)  After taking a bite, he looked at it and asked, "Is this poop?" 

If anyone has any money they need shredded, Tyler has been practicing.  He found some of Mia's money and had a little fun.   

I'm not even sure what to do with this.  Should I tape them back together?  Does the bank take them? 

Today after I dropped the kids off at Kindergarten I went to the Legacy Center (the local rec center) to vote.  After voting, Tyler wanted to go upstairs to walk around the track 3 times.  (I would love to have gone many more than that, but it's not very fun with Tyler.  He doesn't just sit still and watch everything go by.  He wants to "ride" on the back of the stroller and do things like stop and look at the "big bucket".)  We stopped to get a drink out of the drinking fountain.  After he was done, he turned to me, grabbed my shirt and said, "Wait, I have to wipe off my face" as he wiped his face like that's the real reason Mom's wear shirts anyway.

I cleaned off the handle to our fridge with a magic eraser one day.  The next day, Brady said, "Mom!  We got a new freezer!  Oh, no.  It's just the handle is clean." 

This year Brady has only wanted to wear shorts to school.  I asked him why he won't wear his jeans.  He told me he thought his thighs were fat.  When I asked him why he thought this, he told me about one time in 2rd grade when his class was sitting on the kiva.  (A kiva is a carpeted set of stair-like things the kids sit on for activities away from their desks.)  The girl next to him looked at his legs, then looked at him funny and scooted away from him.  And since she's really good at soccer, apparently that means she thought there was something wrong with his legs. 

Brady woke up one morning saying he didn't feel good.  He sat on the couch downstairs most of the morning.  I went down to check on him and he had his thing of deodorant on his chest.  When I asked him why he had his deodorant he said, "My nose smelled like poo, so I put it on my face so I couldn't smell it."  That is a direct quote.  I wrote that down. 

Almost a month ago, Chloe lost another tooth.  She came running into Isaac's room where I was getting him out of bed to show me she lost it.  I told her to get a bag to put it in to put it under her pillow.  Mia was in the room with me and was a little disappointed since she'd only lost one and that was Chloe's third tooth.  Mia had a really loose tooth as well.  She started to ask, "How come my tooth won't " and her tooth came out.  It was only about 20 seconds after Chloe had lost hers.

Later that day, Chloe lost another tooth! 

It was a busy day for the tooth fairy.  I asked them what they thought the tooth fairy should bring them.  Mia wanted a giant lollipop.  Chloe wanted a trampoline.  I told her that wouldn't fit under her pillow.  She said, "She could just put it in the back yard."  Then I told her I didn't think a little fairy could bring a big trampoline.  She replied, "She could just have some other fairies help her." 

I watch my nephew during the week. He was born two weeks after Mia and two weeks before Chloe.  The other day after school Chloe and my nephew were in the bathroom after school.  Brady and his friend were dowstairs and they heard Chloe say to him, "Pee in the garbage can."  There was some laughing.  After they came out, Brady checked.  He really did pee in the garbage can. 

One night after the girls were in bed, Mia was hungry.  I let her have a piece of bread.  (I know, super bad parenting.  So many things wrong with that.)  I walked by their room shortly after that and she was laying in Chloe's bed.  When I asked her why she was in Chloe's bed, she said, "I don't like crumbs in my bed."  I asked her if she thought Chloe did, and she said, "Yes.  She does.  They tickle her back." 

Mia has this innate ability to know exactly what to do or say to get what she wants out of people.  She often tries to convince Chloe or Tyler to get a treat that she likes so they can share with her and she ends up getting more than anyone.  Mia sleeps on the top bunk in their room.  When they first got their bunk beds she would often say, "I won't let you up on my bed," to get what she wanted.  One day she was trying to get her cousin to do something.  He wouldn't do it, so she said, "I'm going to kill your hamster."  That immediately brought the desired response.  She's not totally heartless though.  The day he came over when his hamster died, he was inconsolable.  She gave him the remote and a piece of candy to make him feel better.  It worked too.  He calmed down immediately.

My Baby's Growing Up

I've been avoiding writing this post.  For some reason it's hard for me to really accept that my baby is already a year old.  I'm getting all teary eyed just thinking about it right now.  What's wrong with me?  I didn't used to be this way.  I didn't cry when Brady turned 1.  I might have when the girls turned 1, more from sheer exhaustion and triumph that we'd made it that far than actual sadness though.  I think I was even excited when Tyler turned 1.  I don't remember dreading it like I did with Isaac.  Weird, I know.  The more kids I have, the faster my babies grow up.  The faster my babies grow up, the more I want another baby.  It's this never-ending cycle.  (Except, it will probably end at some point.  I don't plan on having my own reality show with 19 kids.)  As my older kids get older and mouthy and awnry, the more I appreciate my babies.  Anyway, enough with the sappy.  Let's talk about Isaac. 

He's having fun crawling around and getting into whatever he can.  He's not walking yet, and I'm not encouraging it either.  Brady was 16 months when he walked, and that was just fine with me.  I think he'll be walking before that though.

He loves it when his brothers and sisters share their candy with him.  He's figuring out that people food is much better than baby food.  One night he ate an entire sloppy joe all by himself, which was more than all of his siblings combined.

In the morning, I always change his diaper and get him dressed before I get him out of bed.  (I've never had a changing table.  I always thought they were a waste of space.)  He is usually sitting up when I come in, so as I reach in to lay him down, he'll just fall back.  It's really cute.  When he's sitting on the floor and he wants to turn around, he walks himself around with his feet and turns around.  It's also super cute.  He doesn't sleep through the night yet.  He's only done that 3 nights, once when he was 10 days old, and twice right before he got the worst cold of his life.  I've even done some "sleep training" with him.  (That's just code for letting him cry.  I hate every minute of it, but he has a pacifier and a blanket that he likes, so I have to keep telling myself he's ok.  Plus, when I put him down for naps and bedtime, he goes to sleep on his own with no problem.)  Usually, he's happy to see his bed and blanket.  He's very smiley and almost laughs when he gets to take a nap.  He's mauled very loved by his big sister.  She loves to hold him and carry him all over the place.  He's not always so fond of all of the attention, but she sure loves him. 

He's had two haircuts already.

The first I had someone else do, but I didn't like the way she cut the front. 

So the second I cut myself.  I cut Brady and Tyler's hair.  Isaac was a little harder.  He moved a lot, but I think it turned out better than the other lady.  The second was a bit more traumatic than the first.  He didn't really like holding still for mom.

He's been my happiest, calmest, most content baby, which has been nice since when you're the fifth, you have to wait your turn.

He's definitely more of a momma's boy.  For a while, I was a little surprised he even recognized Lance.  He was gone a lot, to say the least.  He's been able to be around a lot more lately, especially on the weekends.  In fact, for the first time last week, Isaac actually crawled to Lance and wanted him to pick him up.  He may have been closer to food that Isaac wanted, but I think that still counts.

He loved his cupcake.  

He had no problem stuffing his face with that.

On a side note, I've had that high chair for over 10 years.  My mom got it at a garage sale when Brady was born.  Last summer I made a new seat cover for it.  I was quite pleased with myself.  It used to look like this.  It was all cracked and gross.  

So I used some oilcloth-like fabric (it's got a plasticy feel to it so it's wipeable.  I've never quite understood the point of a regular fabric seat.  You'd have to wash it after every meal.  What's the point in that?) that I bought on clearance a long time ago and made a new one.  I used the old seat as a pattern and even reused the foam stuff from the inside. 

And, it's reversible.

Is that cool or what? Mostly I did it that way because I didn't have enough fabric of one to do both sides, but I really like it.  I really like the high chair because the tray snugs right up to their belly.  All of the other high chairs I've looked at have a gap there and it drives me nuts.  (Or they are way up high on a shelf at the store, so you can't get a good look at them, which makes me crazy.)  That's kind of the whole point of the tray, right?

I'm sure there's more stuff that I'll remember throughout the day.  I wish I could plug my brain into a computer at night.  I write really good blog posts when I'm trying to go to sleep.  Then I sit down at the computer during the day and it's all gone. 

I've been coming to terms with the fact that he's one.  When my oldest brother graduated high school, we took some pictures at my Granny's house.  I was talking to her and she said, "Once they graduate, they leave and they're never really yours anymore.  Well, maybe it's before that.  Maybe it's when they start walking.  No, I think it happens when you give birth.  They come out, and they're never yours all of the time anymore."  For some reason that has always stuck with me.  The older my kids get, the more I think it's true.  Some days I'm ok with that, but some days I wish they could just be my babies a little bit longer.