okay...here was my first pregnancy. after this I still had almost 2 months before she was born. you see all those stretch marks? disturbing, huh? they are all inflamed and red b/c of p.u.p.s...never heard of it? it is basically what happens when your body decides to be allergic to pregnancy and it itches so much it burns. hydrocortizone and benadryl became my best friends. :) this photo just really takes me back :)

Time with my boy

My sweet cheezy boy...with his sister off to school I've been delighting in it just being the two of us. I think it may have to do with being #4 of 6 kids. It is just so nice to feel like I'm doing a good job and I know a lot of that is just having quiet in the morning. That kid is in love with trains and he can just play by himself and coming up with new "thomas scenerios" (maybe that is how they get their ideas?) for an hour while I either get work done, phone calls made or even just relaxing a bit. Next year he goes to 1/2 day kindergarten and unless something changes I will be all alone for half a day and with just him the other half...it will be weird, but I think I'll manage with a smile :) I love my kids, but they are so noisy! Maybe I'll finally scrap all their baby pictures!?!

Here is my sweet boy getting the salad ready for our first dinner when my mom was here. He was so cute using scissors to cut the lettuce, spinach, chives and basil. It was so yummy! Of course, nothing has been growing so well in pots this year with too much rain and not enough sun! I can't wait to grow a real garden at our new house. I think I will take the kids to the pool this afternoon. Swimming anyone? Big pool!!!! Fun with me and the kids! :)

Our first home

Here is our first home. We still have to solidify the mortgage today and lock in an interest rate when we see one we like, but the inspection went unusually well and we are ready to go! We can move in by July 31st, but hopefully a bit sooner! It is a 1968 split level with a huge yard, smaller rooms and plenty of storage! We are soooo excited and if you want all the pics...visit me on facebook for now. Maybe I'll find time to add more here later :)

a mama-daughter date

For the annual church father-son campout my darling daughter and I had our own fun... After gymnastics we went to michaels to pick out matching ceramic bobblehead cats to paint and we decided on a nice wooden birdhouse to paint for our new home. After painting we went to olive garden for our "fancy dinner" where we had bruscetta, salad, yummy spinach and cheese rolled into lasagna noodles topped in sausage and sauce and a chocolate dessert. E tried to eat her breadsticks so fancy that she began to delight all the diners around us. Many times she broke into a slightly british accent with "oh yes, that would be perfect!" and "this is delicious! It is the best meal in my entire life!" She learned about appetizers and salad forks and kept her napkin on her lap and gingerly dabbed her face with it. Of course, she also blew bubbles into her fancy raspberry lemonade and rocked in the booster seat (the booth seats were so low she couldn't reach her straw)! AND we did dress up and do our hair! One mom said we looked like we were having the best time and said she realized she needed to go on a date with her 12 year old daughter. (I do recommend it!) In the middle of a bruschetta bite we spoke of how daddy and her brother were eating hotdogs and marshmallows right about then.
After about 1 hour into our afternoon she started talking about how she missed her brother and had to call them...they fight, but love each other dearly. Tomorrow our plans consist of baking muffins for breakfast and snuggling in my bed and reading another junie b. jones book.
Turned out to be the best girls night out ever!!! If you haven't "dated" your child...go plan something special now while they still like you! :)

house :)

so for those of you who do not know...we are finally buying a house! It is all I dream about now and it has become a bit of an obsession!!!! We will be moving a whole 8 blocks further north! It is on the small side, but has a huge yard. This is the third time we've looked into a house and I'm so excited that after about 7 years we are finally taking the plunge. I'll take tons of pics at the inspection to show off, but until then I can only share my excitement! It is not much bigger than our current apt, but it is within budget and we'll have more storage room and tons more outdoor play area of our very own. Plus, on a very quiet street for safety for the kiddos :) more later!

Hurry up summer!!!!

Oh I can hardly wait for summer! I love it when the pool is open and the kids and I can spend all day swimming and gardening until it is time to BBQ for dinner ;) it is the only time I feel guilty that matt goes off to work each day! It makes up for all the crying, depression, grouchiness, small apartment dwelling, and flu seasons of the rest of the year :) And when you spend that much time in your swimsuit (warning: missionaries are likely to catch you off guard) you don't even care too much about how you look, it is just nice to let your skin breath and soak in some Vit. D!!!!!!

company...

In a few weeks I have my dad and (hopefully) brother for a day and my sister and her two girls for 3 days. Before then I have to:

scrape, fix, paint the bathroom
lose 40 lbs.
get rid of all my junk
make my home beautiful
get my kids to stop fighting and yelling and being so energetic
give up chocolate
NOT have a flood (which then makes all my garage overflow move back into my home)
get "E" to have all her sight words memorized
convince "A" that he does not need to be a "tooty-boy"
find a way to handle stress that is not self debilitating

....or give up to the reality of my life.

just busy...

my life used to be interesting and exciting...now I'm just busy. I'm in a rut, but too busy to get out of it. I need something exciting or humorous to blog about. That is why I never blog...there's nothing to share! oh wait, there's my calling...but I can't share about that! When did I get so boring? In collage (okay, and high school) I was throwing all the parties and dating all the guys and involved with all my friends...oh, and usually I went to class. Now I'm boring. oh well. I'm a mom. I guess in two years when my kids are both in school I can become some version of my previous self?
What in your life do you consider exciting or thrilling? Maybe my perception is off?

Rediscovering childhood...

I have recently returned to reading Louisa May Alcott (Little Women) and moved on to some I did not know existed. Please read "Eight Cousins" as she has such an expressive way of reminding you what childhood is all about and how to raise children without interfering in the greatest aspects of childhood. I find that I can be more patient and creative after spending time in her classics. I also appreciate any book with fewer characters and more development as I am quite often interrupted in mid sentence. I know that this is not so exciting or interesting...that is just how life is right now- I love that! Also, a big shout out to LDSJournal.com which has excellent questions and as you answer bit by bit you create an excellent overview of who you are...reach a 100 pages and you can opt to print it all! pics too...check it out!j Do you have any excellent and inspiring/uplifting techniques of relaxation and self reflection?

He's just not that into you...

So for our 9th anniversary we went to go see this movie adn it was absolutely fantastic!!!! It has been a while since I laughed at a movie that hard! SOOOO here's the horrible part: the big kiss! It was a wonderful moment ruined by all the people suddenly taking out their cell phones to check their messages just because they are about to leave in 15 minutes. It wasn't just one or two...MANY people were doing it! I thought we were all working on "living in the moment"? Then the ending comes and just about everyone in the theatre was standing up and leaving before the credits even began!!!!!! Maybe I'm cheap, but if I"m going to pay $10.50 to see a movie...I"m gong to watch it all! And the romantic moment....have we become too washed out on tv of good film moments that we are bored? That is lame! C'mon people!?! Enjoy the moment and enjoy EVERY moment!

Harry...

First off...I never promised to blog all the time! I am a random blogger.



Harry- I've heard about him for months, but finally met him this week and gained some perspective. He's 90 this month and needs assistance with keeping up with life and his home. He's still madly in love with each of his wives (the first he lost to illness a long time ago and the second died a decade or so ago) and misses them. I've gotten involved in his care and he is unbelievably grateful. He's such a sweet man and one of the things he always says is, "it all comes back to you...I used to do what you're doing for me. I used to visit sick people and help people and now you can do it. You don't know now how much this means, but someday you'll be like me and then you'll understand how this feels."



This is wonderful perspective and reminds me of my mom taking on full care of Ada Ostrander years ago. She (I believe) got power of attorney and had to help her get into a home and clean out her apartment. She helped her deal with it emotionally and go through years of belongings. She was her friend and caretaker and holds very dear memories of Ada from all those years ago. My mom was such a good example to me...and I had no idea back then what her service would mean to ME now. She didn't do it for me...but I benefitted too. So today I took Boy and Girl with me to take Harry his groceries...maybe they will remember it, maybe not, but it is a pattern that will start now so that they will gain a testimony of service to help them through life.