Photo Tag

David playing with Aaron's razor.

I am less than 1 week away from my due date with Timothy.

This is a tag I saw on a few blogs. Upload the 4th picture from the 4th folder. For me it is the "David" folder.

I tag whoever wants to join in the fun.

"I love your blog award"

1. Where is your cell phone? BAG
2. Where is your significant other? WORK
3. Your hair color? BLOND
4. Your mother? CALIFORNIA
5. Your father? CALIFORNIA
6. Your favorite thing? FOOD
7. Your dream last night? WEIRD
8. Your dream/goal? HAPPINESS
9. The room you're in? FAMILY
10. Your hobby? LEARNING
11. Your fear? FAILING
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? HOUSE
13. Where were you last night? HOME
14. What you're not? EATING
15. One of your wish-list items? HOUSE
16. Where you grew up? CALIFORNIA
17. The last thing you ate? PASTA
18. What are you wearing? JEANS
19. Your TV? OLD
20.Your pet? NONE
21. Your computer? DESKTOP
22. Your mood? CONTENT
23. Missing someone? YES
24. Your car? SILVER
25. Something you're not wearing? SHOES
26. Favorite store? TARGET
27. Your summer? ADVENTUROUS
28. Love someone? YES
29. Your favorite color? GREEN
30. When is the last time you laughed? TODAY
31. Last time you cried? SUNDAY

I award the following people with the "I love your blog award" and in so doing tag them to complete the above questions with one word answers.

I tag whoever wants to play. I love all of the blogs I read.

Newest Niece

I have another little niece. Abigail Rebecca was born on Saturday (on the due date!). Daralee is glad that it is over and that baby #5 is finally here. I can't wait to see pictures. I'm sure she's as cute as the rest of the B* family.

Speaking of cute here's a video of Amy Marie. We've discovered that she loves it when we roll our "r"s and click our tongue. She even attempts to click her tongue as well. She gets it every once in a while.

David is a service star

Last week in Primary, David's teacher gave them a service star chart. For every day they did service he could color in a star. Well since he was sick last Monday we sort of forgot about it. However Sunday he found the chart and while I was feeding Amy he became a service star. I thought he was just clearing off his plate from breakfast and playing in the sink (I wasn't going to pick that battle). He was "washing" the dishes! Then he decided to clear the table, wash it off, sweep the floor, and then he cleaned the bathroom too!!! Of course it wasn't done perfectly, and I had to wash some of the dishes again, but I loved that he wanted to do it, and he did it happily.

Independence

Timothy has been very independent lately. I wish that would translate into putting his socks and shoes on by himself, and obeying more, but anyway... He wants to do a lot of things by himself. He thinks he can stay home - or in the car by himself.

Timothy can do a lot of things on his own, like setting the table, or putting his clothes away. He dresses himself - except for the socks and shoes. We went to the pediatrician's office last week for Timothy's shots and when I had him pull his pants down so they could get to his leg I discovered he'd put his underwear on backward. Half of the time his pants or shirts are on backward. Yesterday I was feeding Amy, and he wanted to eat lunch. I wasn't fast enough because he decided to make his own lunch. He actually did a great job.



I love how he wandered around the kitchen like he owned the place!

pumpkin carving

It seems that carving pumpkins is a popular FHE activity. We did the same last night. I had ideas of going to a local pumpkin patch and picking pumpkins with the kids. It didn't happen because they are all at least 30 minutes away, and the same price as the local produce stand. We would spend more on gas than the pumpkins. Plus Aaron's time is limited, and Amy doesn't do well in driving unless it's nap time. I'd rather not listen to a screaming baby for 30 minutes each way. So the kids had fun carving pumpkins with Aaron while I took pictures and took care of Amy Marie. I feel like I'm still missing out on some traditions like caramel apples. I have the caramels, but we haven't done that yet. We need some hot apple cider. And I was going to make sugar cookies, but we are out of powdered sugar - I think I may have mentioned that already. Anyway... here are some picture of the fun last night.

Please excuse the messy floor, and Timothy's backward shirt.

Successful trunk-or-treat

David loves to hold Amy. This was taken yesterday.

I got this picture of the boys before we headed to the trunk-or-treat.

Last night went well. I didn't get a picture of Amy last night because she can't buckle in her carseat with the costume on. I didn't want to put it on her just to take it off and put it on her again. However she fell asleep on the way to the church, so she never had it on. I just put her carrier in the stroller (I love that I can do that) and walked around with the boys. I left our gate open with the bowl of candy sitting in the back of the van. It of course was gone when we got back. The boys had fun, and Amy didn't wake up until we were done and we went to get doughnuts and apple juice - no hot cider since we don't have use of the building yet - they are still recarpeting. I held Amy while the boys finished their doughnuts and juice, then we headed home. We got home in time for baths and bedtime.

I put Amy in her costume this morning just in case the same thing happens on Friday - that she falls asleep and doesn't get to wear it.

David made a princess crown for Amy - she protested wearing it.

Aaron got about four hours of sleep last night with only one interruption. He was pretty tired so he napped for 30 minutes and then got ready for church. We found a much faster rout to our temporary building today. So we got there 15 minutes early. One of the young women sat in front of us just so she could hold Amy. Since we moved in I don't think there has been a Sunday where she didn't have a baby or toddler in her arms. She loves babies, and is great with them. Her dad works in the primary (he becomes Br. Friendly and does sharing Time once a month) so the boys were excited to see him sitting in front of us. They drew pictures for him and Courtney
the entire sacrament meeting. Courtney can sit by us any time!

The primary kids are practicing for the annual Primary Sacrament Presentation. I happened to be nursing Amy while they were practicing and I got to hear my boys saying their parts in the microphone. I'm kind of glad I don't have to it with rowdy kids this year. I'll enjoy the program from the congregation.

Well that's all for now.

more randomness

My Dad is home from the hospital. But I have yet to talk to him. He's doing much better now. I bet he's glad to be able to read my blog again ;)
~
I found the best way to clean all of the nooks and crannies of my toilet seat -buy a new one! We just got a cheap $5 one from Home Depot. We didn't buy it to get it clean of course, it broke when David was brushing his teeth - don't ask me how, I wasn't there. I was making sure Timothy was getting his PJ's on and I heard a crash. The lid had snapped off, but he "didn't know what happened." It "just broke" while he was standing on it. Why was he standing on it while brushing his teeth??? Who knows, he was just being David.
~
Wednesday Aaron and the boys made another volcano eruption. This time I got pictures of it.

!

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After 6 years of trying my boys are finally enjoying college football with me. Since we mostly listen to BYU over the internet and watch the ESPN gamecast they have a little skewed vision on football. It's really great to hear them say things like, "red zone", "first down" and "touchdown". It warms my heart :)

BYU wins today!! Go Cougars!

~

I apologize for the state of the house in the pictures. It's been a little messy lately.

~

NICU hasn't been horrible for Aaron. He only logged 72 hours this week. They are down to less than 30 patients now. As a senior he doesn't have to be in quite as early and can leave a little earlier when he's post call. He actually got almost 3 hrs of sleep on his 2nd call night, not all at once though. He's on call today, it's his black weekend 14 days straight!

~

I finally got David's costume done, he wants to be a skeleton. It didn't take much time, just effort in finding a black sweatshirt. I went to four stores looking for a plain black sweatshirt. Unless I wanted to pay $20 for a hoodie there weren't any. I found black fleece bottoms at Target for $3.33, but the tops had writing on them. then I remembered the bag of clothes I got from Beverly this summer. Most of them were too big for David, and I remembered that there were some sweats - but I couldn't recall what colors they were. I lucked out. There was a black sweatshirt, a little faded compared to the brand new sweat pants, but oh well. I don't know what to do about his face though. I don't want him wearing a mask, but he doesn't want me to paint it. We'll see what happens at the Trunk-or-Treat tonight.

Timothy wanted to be a firefighter. He likes to play with the costume that David has worn for the past 2 Halloweens. It has been through a lot, and I had to get out the electrical tape and fix it. I think it looks pretty good. A pretty good investment to last for 3 Halloweens. My only concern is that now he wants to be a skeleton too.

Amy will be in the pumpkin costume Timothy wore at 4 months old. But He was 20 lbs by then, and she is only 12 1/2 lbs. But the tag says 0-9 months, so I guess it will work. At least she'll be warm. It's a little chilly today, and it will be dark. When Timothy wore it we were in TX, it was hot and Timothy was uncomfortable in it.

Am I crazy to attempt the Trunk-or-Treat with 3 kids without Aaron? He says that I shouldn't worry about handing out candy. But I've already bought 4 small bags, and I don't want them hanging around the house. I'm pleased that I haven't opened them yet. Although we have had Skittles, M&Ms, pumpkin cookies, and cinnamon rolls around the house in the last couple weeks. I didn't really need to open Halloween candy.
~

I've been thinking

After a few posts from my friends about motherhood, I've been doing a lot of thinking. When I was young I was often asked what I wanted to be when I grow up. Every kid gets asked that. I had a few routine answers: a nurse, a teacher, at one point a pharmacist. But really all I ever wanted to do was get married, have kids and raise a family.

I knew it wouldn't be an easy life, but I often wonder, if that's what I really wanted, why am I not better at it? I need more patience, I need more creativity, I need to be less selfish. I ask myself, "Am I happy?" In general, the answer is yes. I don't find myself ever wanting to have a career. I'm not even wanting to do an in home business. I just want to be home. I think this blog has really helped me reflect on what is really important. It has given me a forum to remember the good, bad, crazy, silly and fun parts of parenting.

I have come to the conclusion that I may not be the best mom in the world, but I am working on it everyday, and I get so much joy from being a mom. Now that I have three kids I am starting to realize how fast they grow up. Usually it is something that I look back and say, "Wow that went by so fast." But now I'm looking ahead, and thinking that it won't be long before Amy will be crawling and walking, Timothy will be in school, David will finally lose a tooth. Pretty soon Aaron will be done with his training, we'll be moving and settling down, with a permanent job and a house. Then the kids will be teenagers, and dating, and driving. It's overwhelming to think about at times. But now I want to enjoy every moment. I want to play with them more and just be with them more.

I know this isn't my normal form of blogging, but I'm reflecting a lot since I realizing I've been blogging for almost 2 years and this will be my 500th post! Pretty amazing. I'll get back to the regular fun stuff next post!

Random Thoughts

I just paid $2.99 for gas. I'm jealous of those of you further East that have it a lot cheaper. But it was a milestone for us.

My dad is still in hospital. Hopefully he'll be home soon.

David went back to school yesterday. He was feeling much better. The first thing he wanted to do was hold Amy. She makes him happy. I'm glad he made it for pictures. There was a sub Tuesday in his class, so he didn't miss any new math work.

It was beautiful yesterday and today. It started out chilly, but by the time we picked up David it was 65!

Last night we had Nathan and Amy over to play games. It has been nice to have them so close. They are moving on Saturday - to University Housing. So now they'll be 1/2 a mile away. Still in the same ward, but not close enough to borrow a cup of sugar like we used to. (You are still welcome to borrow food - you'll just have to drive over here if you want it quickly) We will miss having them downstairs, but this will be a good move for them - going from a basement studio to a 2 bedroom, a great price and a great community. I wish we qualified to live there.

While they were here we played Carcassonne again, and had popcorn. David heard us popping it and was mad. He stayed up late trying to get us to come in his room, or let him come out. Once when Aaron went back there David said it wasn't fair that we got to stay up late and eat popcorn. So Aaron told him when he gets older he can stay up late and eat popcorn.
He replied, "But that's not fair, you'll be dead by then."

And here are some pictures, just because. I wish I had better lighting.








I like this video in part because of the short conversation between Timothy and I

over the weekend

Friday Aaron was on call. After school we made chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. Ashley inspired me. then we watched Mary Poppins. My boys hadn't seen the whole thing, so it was fun for them. David had seen clips of it in his music class, so he knew some of the songs.

Saturday morning we cleaned the kids' room. It wouldn't have taken so long, but the kids didn't want to help, and I had to feed Amy in the middle of it, so nothing got done for a while. Then we cleaned the family room. When Aaron got home he was so tired. He got about an hour of sleep in the form of 3 20 minute naps. So I decided to take the kids to the park. I figured they would play in the sand while I fed Amy. We brought the scooter out too. The boys were great, but Amy wouldn't eat. It was a little chilly and breezy. I don't know if that was the problem or not, but she wouldn't eat. We lasted less than an hour, but the boys were pretty good about coming when I asked them to. They watched Sleeping Beauty when we got home so Aaron could sleep a little longer. He got up for his dentist appointment and the boys and I played and made dinner.

Sunday Aaron went to his meetings and got home in time for us to leave for church. We gave ourselves 40 minutes to get there. It's a good thing too, because it took us about that long to get there. There has got to be a better way to get there and back. We tried a new route on the way home and got stuck in traffic. But church was good; the high council speaker read a lot from Elder Wirthlin's talk from General Conference. I really enjoyed that talk. I missed part of Sunday school trying to feed Amy. She apparently didn't want to eat. I also missed part of Relief Society to hear David give a talk. I think it's only his 2nd talk since going into Primary. We forgot about one earlier this year - I thought he was supposed to give the scripture - oops. He really didn't want to give a talk, but Aaron somehow convinced him. He wrote the whole thing himself and then typed it on the computer. He did correct the spelling, since I forgot to turn the spell check off. He got up to the microphone and read it by himself, he was very pleased with himslef and so were we. This is the talk he gave. The topic was prayer.

When grandpa was in the hospital we knelt down and said a prayer. We asked Heavenly father to help him feel better. He is still in the hospital but feeling better every day. And I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

I realize I haven't mentioned my Dad's health much on my blog, but I wasn't sure how much information I wanted to share. But I was pleased to hear he will probably be coming home tomorrow.

Back to Sunday- after we finally got home from church, Amy finally ate (4 hours between feedings!). We ate dinner and Aaron did all of his home teaching. I had a good evening with the boys. At one point David was reading books to Timothy. It was so sweet. Especially since they are usually fighting over books instead of sharing them.

David is sleeping and Timothy wants to play a game on the computer, so I'll write again another time.

sick kids

I got a call from the school nurse today. David had a headache and a fever of 103!!! Yikes. Timothy had gone to play at a friend's house, so I had to call the mom and let her know I would pick him up after I picked up David. David looked so sad when I picked him up. I said out loud that I'd have to cancel our dentist appointments for this afternoon. David had tears in his eyes. He didn't want to miss school, miss PE or miss the dentist appointment. He has to be fever free for 24 hours before he can go to school, so that means he's out for tomorrow as well. Pictures are on Wednesday, so I hope he gets better soon. It's no fun to have sick kids. Although they are usually a little more compliant. I should have known something was wrong this morning when he got ready for school without any prodding, and then sat and read a book until it was time to go.

Funny things kids say

Timothy continually asks us questions. He often knows the answer to them. Like this morning - "What does 'I don't care' mean?"

Aaron was getting ready to go to work this morning. He's on call tonight. Timothy asked him what was in the little black bag. "That's where I put my toiletries," Aaron answered. Timothy gave him a confused looked and tried to figure out how he had a tree with toilets on it.

Later he repeated a joke he had heard,
Q"What is the pirate's favorite letter?"
A"Arrrr"

Then he said another one. I think he may have made this one up.
Q"what is the peoples favorite letter?"
A"U!"
Me: U? Why U?
Timothy: Do you like U?
Me: Sure I like U.
Timothy: Thanks, I like you too.
He's pretty clever.

NICU

Aaron starts NICU tomorrow at the local University Hospital. It's going to be a long 4 weeks. He's been talking to the other residents and there are about 35 babies in the NICU right now - that's just about at capacity. And he's on call tomorrow too. Then he has a dental visit on Saturday, so that day is pretty much shot for him. He has to go to PEC and bishopric meeting on Sunday for the Ward Clerk. I'm worried we are going to get lost on the way to church because we are going to a different building for two Sundays while they recarpet our building.

I am going to have to start taking naps again. Aaron has been letting me sleep in until at least 7:00 and it has been so great. He'll even make breakfast and get David's lunch ready. But no longer. He has to be in by 7:00 now (instead of 8:00) and he has a 15 minute bike ride instead of a 2 minute walk. I have to be up by 6:15 if I'm going to shower before he leaves. I'm sure there will be mornings where I'll shower later and hope Amy doesn't wake while I'm in there. But considering that the boys are usually up by 6:30 I might as well get up too.

Man I am whining too much. Oh and I don't have Halloween costumes for the kids yet. I'm such a slacker.

6 week check-up

Today Amy and I had our 6 week check-ups. Both went very well. We'll start with Amy. She is now 12 lbs 8 oz!!! - 95th% I knew she was getting bigger. She's still 22.5 inches long 75th%, so she's getting pretty chubby. Her head is still large at 39.9 cm - 85th %. I had to wake her up to start the exam, but she was pretty happy. She even peed all over me, twice, after I picked her up off the scale. She didn't start crying until the end of the exam, by then she was hungry. I fed her for a minute, she got her shots, then I fed her some more. Then we went home and I finished her feeding (remember we live only 2 blocks away). Timothy was great while we were there, but he was trying to "help" the NP with the exam, which wasn't very helpful. And the MA was new, at least I didn't recognize her. She kept apologizing for Amy peeing on me, as if she or I could have prevented it. She was also a little frazzled when the second band-aid broke and she had to search for another one. I tried to tell her there was one on her tray, but she was a little distracted, poor girl.

After we stopped by the house for a feeding for Amy and a snack for me and Timothy, I took Timothy to my friend Shellie L*'s house and headed out to my appointment. Amy slept the whole way there. Is is bad of me to LOVE it when people ooh and ahh over my baby? The nurse couldn't not believe she was so big and she said more than once, "She has more hair than I do." So I am good to go on physical activity. My OB said I could count that as my well woman exam - yay! I even bravely weighed myself before I left and I'm only 3 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight. That gives me hope that I can keep going (add in some exercise now) and maybe get to my pre-David weight! Only 28 lbs to go! That might take another year though.

Amy slept through my exam, all the way home, while picking up Timothy, and she's still sleeping. I might have to wake her up since soon she hasn't eaten for about 3 1/2 hours.

Here are some 6-week shots of Amy. I actually like some of these.

David being silly while holding Amy

This is how Timothy fell asleep last night.
He didn't move into this position after he fell asleep,
this was his position as he fell asleep.

Crazy lazy day

I am going crazy. I didn't have to pick up David from school today because he went to a friend's house after school. It feels weird not to have him home. I miss him. I figured I'd get a lot more done with him gone. Well it's not happening. First my mouse is driving me nuts, or maybe it's just the driver, but the mouse keeps quitting on me. I have to unplug it and plug it back it. Sometimes it is a few times a day. We've tried a different mouse and a different USB port. It's rather annoying. I've had to fix it at least 10 times today.

Second Amy is not eating well today, and sleeping a lot. Again I thought I'd be able to get a lot done since she is sleeping. Except that she wakes up when I put her down. She's happy for a few minutes and then she fusses, so I pick her up. Then she falls right back asleep. She hasn't a full feeding all day, just a lot of snacks - she keeps falling asleep. But I have to hold her most of the time, so I don't get much done except reading, and playing Monopoly Jr. with Timothy and answer his endless questions.

I bet she would sleep soundly in the wrap however, I left it at church on Sunday. I would just use Aaron's keys and get it, except they are recarpeting the entire building for the next 3 weeks, and no one is allowed in there for safety reasons. Who knows if it will even be there when they are done. My dilemma - I have 2 more, but they are supposed to be gifts for other expecting moms. Do I use them or not? I can't give them away if they are used.

So between thinking about David and worrying about Amy's sleep/eat pattern and trying to keep Timothy from jumping off everything, I am tired, and I didn't even DO anything today.

To end on a positive, here are two videos of Amy and some pictures.




One of her good awake moments today

A good smile, but her eye is closed, and I hate the background, and her shirt is very busy. It's the one David made for her.

Timothy wants his picture taken too.

Playing Monopoly Jr. with mom

Happy Birthday Chris

Today is my youngest brother's birthday. He goes by Chris, but he hasn't always. He was named Christopher Scott, and we always called him Scotty. By the time he turned 8 he decided that he wanted to be called Chris. But at home he was still Scotty. Now that he is 15 - no he can't be - he's Scott instead of Scotty. I still remember when he was born and bringing See's "It's a Boy!" suckers to my friends at school, and they were very surprised that my mom was still having kids. I was 16 after all, not to mention Eva was 19 and in college. I was very excited to have another brother.
Scott is a great guy and tries his hand at all sorts of things. He plays trumpet, a little piano, he played soccer as a kid, and now he has taken on Freshman Football. He is very thoughtful and often insightful. I remember some of the things he said when he was very little. At 3 years old he pointed to a picture of the Hawaii temple and said, "I know what that is." "Is it a temple?" I asked. "No, it's a reflection." Indeed there is a reflection pool in front of the Hawaii temple. He had remembered that Mom had told him about reflections when we had gone camping and she pointed out the reflection in the lake.
So happy 15th birthday Scott. Next year you can start dating - Yikes!

bills

We received our first bills from Amy's birth last week. It was bittersweet. Timothy's birth was paid for by Medicaid. I am so glad that we are not on Medicaid this time around. Although we still qualify - isn't that crazy?!!! It is so nice to have insurance. Amy's deductible will be met quickly and mine is already met. Paying only 10% is great.

This week we have our 6 week check-ups, on the same day. I hope they go well.

Here are a few pictures of Amy. I am still attempting to get that perfect smiling picture. The ones with the great smiles are either blurry, have horrible backgrounds, or she's turned her head at the last second. So these will have to do.

Mission Call

My little brother Mike received his mission call. My mother saw it in the mail on Friday and hid it until today. My family in CA was having a combined birthday party (Eva, John and Scott have birthdays within 4 days of each other). We set up a large conference call. Through Skype on two different laptops, both my sister in ID and us in WA, and my dad on the phone (he's still in the hospital) we were all able to see and hear that Mike will be serving in the Macon Georgia mission! He leaves on November 19th. That's just over a month from now!!! I am very excited. I haven't had a sibling leave on a mission since my sister Eva left while I was a freshman in college! We here in WA wish you the best Mike.

Truthfully we couldn't actually hear anything but "Georgia" because of noisy kids and feedback on Skype, so I had to call my sister Sara to hear it for sure.

Happy Birthday John

Today is my BIL John's birthday. He is married to my younger sister Tina. They have been married 4 years now, and have a beautiful daughter, Elizabeth, who is 17 months old. John just graduated from Chiropractic School and will be setting up a business with another Chiropractor later this year. John is a lot of fun to hang out with, and treats my sister very well. He's a great chef, and loves fish of all kinds. Wait, as pets, not to eat! We are blessed to have John as part of our family. Happy Birthday John.

Interview with my kids

Today there was no school, so I asked these questions of my kids. I saw this on M & G's blog.

Timothy 4 years and 3 months old

1. What is something mom always says to you? "Please can you do it?!" (when I ask him to do something)

2. What makes mom happy? "Being good."

3. What makes mom sad? "Being bad to each other."

4. How does your mom make you laugh? "Being funny!"

5. What was your mom like as a child? "Be good."

6. How old is your mom? "20."

7. How tall is your mom? "So your feet is that long and your tunny is that long and your head is that long." Complete with hand gestures

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Play with people"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "Be sad."

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "what does famous mean?"

11. What is your mom really good at? "Playing games."

12. What is your mom not very good at? "Getting everyone to play nicely!"

13. What does your mom do for her job? "Being good."

14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Yummy food."

15. What makes you proud of your mom? "Being good."

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "a light."

17. What do you and your mom do together? "Play games."

18. How are you and your mom the same? "we sing."

19. How are you and your mom different? "we are different numbers (ages)."

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "we go somewhere exciting."

David- 6 1/2 years old

1. What is something mom always says to you? "I love you!"

2. What makes mom happy? "When I do something good."

3. What makes mom sad? "When I don't obey."

4. How does your mom make you laugh? "When you make funny jokes!"

5. What was your mom like as a child? "She was nice."

6. How old is your mom? "31"

7. How tall is your mom? "40 lbs."

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Play with me - and look at baby Amy"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "Take care of the baby."
(do you sense a theme here?)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Having a good baby"

11. What is your mom really good at? "Watching over baby Amy."

12. What is your mom not very good at? "Fixing stuff - 'cause my dad has tools"

13. What does your mom do for her job? "Take care of the baby."

14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Chocolate cookies."

15. What makes you proud of your mom? "Cleaning my room."

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Tom and Jerry."(He's only seen this once- but that's his idea of what a cartoon is)

17. What do you and your mom do together? "Take care of the baby."

18. How are you and your mom the same? "I don't know"

19. How are you and your mom different? "One is a boy and one is a girl."

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "She is nice."

sleeping well

Amy Marie didn't have another 7 hour night, but she did have two 5 1/2 hour nights! Each night she went to sleep around 10:00 and woke around 3:30 am. The next time she woke was at 7:30 am. Both of those nights she also put herself to sleep. I had already fed her at 9:00, but she didn't stay asleep. She was drowsy, so I swaddled her and put her in her cradle and eventually fell asleep. She would stir, but not cry, until she fell asleep. Yeah. Let's hope she keeps it up.

Happy Birthday Eva

Today is my sister Eva's birthday. She is 34 today! It was great to have her here for four days and we really miss her. I feel bad didn't celebrate it with her before she left. She is always so thoughtful. She loves to send cards. We always get birthday cards, and Valentine cards, and Thank-you cards. She left a mini card for everyone before she left - even for little Amy Marie. Did I mention Eva's middle name is Marie too? Eva is the one in our family that loves to keep everyone connected. "Have you called Becca lately?" "When did you last talk to Tina?" She also loves to organize things. She has many other talents as well. Currently she works with the special ed kids at a local Jr. high. She also teaches piano and voice lessons. Eva went to BYU where she studied music education, and was in the Concert Choir. She served went on a mission to the Missouri, Independence Mission. She has been married to her best friend, David, for 9 years. Eva is a great sister and friend. I hope we get together again soon! I love you. Happy Birthday.

7 hours!!!

For each of the last two nights Amy Marie has slept for a 7 hour stretch!! Monday night it was 11:00 pm to 6:00 am and last night it was 10:00pm until 5:00 am! Of course each night I woke a few times wondering if she was alright. Of course she was. It's a lot easier to get back to sleep if I don't have to get out of bed. Who knows if she will continue to do this, but it was nice for a couple of nights!

Amy Marie is smiling a lot now. And it's not "just gas". They are definitely social smiles. I love it when she smiles at me. The one who gets the most grins is David.

I wish I had a better camera so I could capture them. Hopefully we'll get a good picture soon.

Sister Visit

Eva left on the train this morning. It was great to have her here. We enjoyed watching and listening to General Conference while she was here. I love that Elder Hales mentioned commenting on a blog!!!

So what did we do while we she was here? Mostly just talked and took care of the kids. I feel bad that we never really ventured out except to pick up David from school, shop at Target and the produce stand. We did get to watch Mr. Mom - something I haven't seen in decades! We laughed a lot. We took some pictures and played with the kids. We listened to the BYU game until we found out we could watch it on BYU TV online. Only that game though. It was fun to be able to watch it, even if it was a frustrating game. At least we won.

Saturday morning the kids were up earlier than Aaron or I wanted to get up. I had just finished feeding Amy Marie. I gave her to Aaron while I left to check on the kids. This is what I found when I got back and I had to take a picture.

Timothy and Aaron playing with Amy

As proof that Amy is getting too big for her newborn outfits: this is the outfit she wore home from the hospital.

At 1 month old

At 2 days old

Timothy holding Amy again - but I couldn't get a single picture with his eyes open, or looking at the camera, or even without a silly face.

I just love this sleeping baby!

David wanted to make cookies and decided to find a recipe. He wanted one with cinnamon so he went to the index and started to look for recipes. When did he learn to use an index? I sure didn't teach him that!

He's looking it up

And he's found one!

Timothy's idea of listening to conference was climbing on my back and knocking me over.

When Timothy got up this morning he repeated what he's been saying for the last few days. "Aunt Eva, you can't leave, you have to stay here forever and ever." This time though he was crying. Eva teared up as well, and then distracted the boys with stickers.

I was worried about how I was going to get Eva to the train station. If Aaron took her she would be there 3 hours early. If I took her after I dropped off David we would be cutting it close if there was traffic. I was also worried about how Amy was going to handle the drive if we got stuck in traffic. Her schedule isn't set yet and I didn't know when she would wake up and if she would be hungry during the drive. She often doesn't make the drive to or from David's school without crying. I was worried enough that I actually mentioned it in my prayers. It's nice to know that Heavenly Father cares about even little things. Amy woke up to eat at a good time, and was quiet on the drive to the school. Fussed a little when we stopped to drop off David, but then quieted when we started driving again. She fell asleep at some point and stayed asleep the whole way to the train station. The traffic wasn't bad, if we slowed down it was only to 40 or 50 mph. We got there in plenty of time. We said good-bye to Eva and headed home. Amy stayed asleep the whole way back even when we had to stop for the freight train for 10 minutes. She even slept long enough for me to put some laundry in when we got back. I said many prayers of thanks on the way home.

So now it's back to normal for us.

Random Thoughts

Amy is 1 month old today. At the bread store on Wednesday the lady at the check out asked if she was 3 months old. I don't have an appointment for her for two more weeks, so I don't have stats for her. But I guess she's still growing. She's starting to fill out in her arms and legs and belly. And some of her newborn stuff is very tight.

Auntie Eva is visiting for four days. The boys are loving it! David was excited to ride his bike after school since Eva was there to help. Timothy thinks she should stay here forever. Of course it doesn't hurt that she brings stickers, hot wheels and candy and gifts from Grammy. Both boys love to play games with Auntie Eva, and Timothy loves to take picture with her phone. Aunt Valerie has a similar phone, and Timothy remembers when Valerie let them take pictures with her phone. He also plays games on her phone. She has to charge it every night;)

Eva rode the train up late Tuesday evening. She got to sleep a lot since it was delayed quite a lot, and arrived at 2:45am on Thursday morning. She brought a few things from Mom including a baby book - I thought she might send something like that. Mom also sent a hooded towel for Amy Marie and we used it last night after her bath.

Eva has been a big help with Amy and the boys. She plays with them and loves to hold Amy. She loves to organize and now my fridge looks fabulous. As much as I wish more of my family could be here, I am glad that I am able to spend some time with my older sister.

Fall is here and I love it. I love the rain and the colors. I took this picture of a tree near David's school I admired it last year, and this year I vowed to take a picture. I'm glad I did because the leaves are already starting to fall with the rain.

Timothy wanted to take pictures with the camera today, and he took this one of our Halloween decorations (even though they've been played with and knocked over.) Earlier this week he wanted to get out our Halloween decorations (after seeing the ones at Target). I realized I hadn't done any holiday decorating since Easter. 'Tis the season for holiday decorating. And yes I have seen Christmas stuff in stores already! Grrrr! But did you see the Hershey's pumpkin spice kisses? Yum.

Timothy wanted to hold Amy Marie today so I snapped a few pictures.

He really wanted to make a silly face.

I'm sure there were a lot more things I wanted to say, but I can't think of them now. Amy is starting to wake up, so I'll have to post more another time.