Timmy Bad Guy Mommy

Call me crazy but I think Emily realized that Timmy is here to stay booting her out of her precious baby spot. Lately she walks up to him and says "Bad Guy." And then she will look at me and say "mommy Timmy bad guy!" Not sure why she chooses to call him "bad guy" or why all of a sudden she thinks he is a bad guy. The only thing I can think of is she has realized that Timmy is here to stay. I guess the two year old jealousy thing is kicking in a little bit. She also has begun fighting for our attention. IE she will climb on my lap or Eric's and push another sibling away and say "my mommy or my daddy." I feel bad that she is feeling a little threatened when it comes to her parents loving her because she is truly the cutest little girl. I am just afraid its because she is about to turn three and in our house thats not always a good thing...

Check out My darling Family pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/4KidsNoDogs/December2007

Check out all my family pictures for the month of December...come on I know you want to :)

I take way too many pictures, but not sure how to create albums just yet on the Picasa site... so bare with me, but there sure are some keepers in the bunch...

Merry Christmas! and a Happy New Year!

Some Christmas Pics

Happy New Year and other babblings!

Can you believe that Christmas has come and gone and that 2008 is only a few days away?? Where does the time go, really??? where??? I just can't believe that 2007 is over. What happened with the time? Well I guess I spent most of the year in bed so it seemed. Kids spent most time rearranging the house and creating fun messes for me to pick up. And Eric spent the time commuting back and forth to work and home and the church. I don't think we really did much this last year, no big trips no major events...ok I take that back! :

We had Timmy,
Gregory got his appendix out,
I got scarlet fever and hospitalized for 8 days,
Bethany dropped out of preschool,
Emily learned to talk,
my parents came out a couple of times,
Eric's parents returned home from Brazil
We spent spring break with the flu and in Galveston with the kids,
I got to travel to California for 5 days
Went to San Antonio for Thanksgiving
Had a niece born...Maycie
My sister Aly and her kids came for a fun visit...

So the year was pretty eventful. I need to finish our family yearbook highlighting the year and all the fun pictures...

Gregory made a comment the other day which made me think that my life feels a little like Ground Hogs day the movie. He said "I am tired of cleaning up other people's messes!" after I had asked him to pick up something Emily dumped out. I looked at him and said "so am I!"

And really I feel like each day I wake up to a child beckoning me from their room...well usually my floor or snuggled next to me in my bed, followed by the prompt words..."I want something to eat"...next followed by "MMMMMMMMMMOOOOMMMM come on I 'm hungary!" and me saying "just a minute I need to use the rest room" Then I stumble down the stairs, trying to pick a few things up on the way. Feed kids something, sometimes it is popcorn sitting out from the night before or hey how about some crackers, if I am not bombarded with the suggestion of "eggs!". Then I run upstairs try to make some beds, while stopping to check my email, followed by some screaming and someone needing some help. Then its the day where do the hours go, not sure, mostly kids pulling stuff out, me putting stuff back, spilling of milk or some sort of drink, mopping that up. A phone call, then someone needs a new diaper or a bottom wiped. Then another phone call, check the email. Is it lunch time already? What are we going to eat. Figure that out, then clean up the kitchen again, and then try to get some kids down for a nap, and then off to check email and work on some story books or throw a load of laundry in.

Oh my gosh its 2:45 time to pick Gregory up from school. Run to school, sometimes bringing the girls without their shoes on. Come home, snacks...homework, more messes. Knock Knock on the door "Can we come play, our Dad said we have to be home by 5:45"

Oh my now its 5 and time for dinner. Then what to eat...I think this year I am going to focus on meal prep before 5. Then its time to fix the dinner "Where's dad? Will he be home?" "Oh just eat" Oh and time to nurse Timmy for the 5ht or sixth time....Dad's home...Feed him, kids want to play with him...its almost 8? Kids in the tub....Eric read them stories....I am exhausted....Crawl in to bed...and then it starts all over again....

Some things change each day like we might go to the library or get invited to visit at a friends....but day in and day out same old same old and I wonder what lesson haven't I learned yet?? You know because each life is filled with lessons and learning?? I guess I haven't mastered the cleaning up messes. Maybe I am just destined to clean??? Not sure....

Well Kids are disturbing their trying to nap dad and I have babbled on long enough about not much and Emily is now sad that her dad told her to leave her alone and she is headed upstairs to get me. Hope all is well with you!

We did have a really good Christmas, we got a WII need I say more? That's all we have done for the last week..so much fun and I have a sore arm....

Do I sound so negative...I don't mean too....I love my life, just seems rather repetitive lately..time to register for a class.

Tis the night before Christmas!

Tis the night before Christmas and all through my home,
everyone is already sleeping and I'm up all alone.
Santa has delivered the presents with care,
and I wonder if it will all end up fair.

Gregory wanted a transformer,Bumble Bee to be exact,
none were to be found, and that's a sad fact.
Bethany got her My twin doll,
and playing with her she'll sure have a ball.
Emily still not able to speak or make requests,
received some little people, blocks we did our best.
Timothy so young, who'll likely eat the wrapping,
got a riding on hippo, which on blocks does his snacking.

Eric's pink flamingo for his new found garden,
has lost a leg and turned out not to be a great bargain.
As for me and the tree and its gifts resting below,
must wait til the morning light greets Hello.

There is not much left for me to do,
I better go lay down and try something new.
For if I write on much longer you see,
you will wish you had stopped reading at line 3.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all sweet dreams!

December Favorites

Some things to make you go HMMMMM!

As I was driving down the toll way today, and went under the flashing bar code scanner zapper thing I wondered, how on earth it did it and was able to accurately log each car passing by? It is amazing, because when I am at the grocery store doing self check out, it takes me at least several minutes sometimes it feels, to get something to scan when I am holding the bar code right to it, usually after spending a few seconds trying to find the bar code. Then spending the time flipping it around, aiming it towards the top scanner then the bottom scanner, checking the package again to see if you actually have the bar code. Then you finally get it scanned and try to put it nicely in the sack before the computer screen starts screaming at you to put it in the bag, and then tells you to wait for assistance...anyway I just wonder how the toll way machine is so efficient and that self scanner thing is sometimes a wonder for me.

The other thing that I have often wondered about lately is how in the world are children capable of destroying their room in five seconds flat, and not only not know who made the mess, but are completely unable to clean it up in less than three hours, a yelling mom and tears? Go figure!!

Also how do young babies know the difference in standing or sitting down?? Or that they are being held by a five year old vs. a 35 year old? Can't they just be content to be held and loved?

And why do kids automatically say "what??!!" when you ask them to do something. But when you are whispering to your spouse about taking the kids somewhere fun, they begin to scream lets go!??

How is it that kids after being told fifty times not to touch the Tabasco Jalapeno plant come inside with their mouths, faces and eyes on fire after deciding to take apart the peppers to plant their seeds??? How are mom's suppose to know how to stop the burn? Well if you are wondering palm olive or any dish soaps when scrubbed on and rinsed off (with cold water not hot cuz that burns the burn more) helps stop the burning. Though if you are looking for a quick "I've been in the sun look" might I suggest rubbing a jalapeno on your face.

Well it seems my time of babbling has come and gone...wonder how time goes so fast when you try to take a moment for yourself....

Dear Santa....I didn't write this but I could have :)

Dear Santa,

I ' ve been a good mom all year. I ' ve fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor ' s office more than my doctor

and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my

list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son ' s red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I ' ll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I ' d like a pair of legs that don 't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don ' t hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I ' d also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you ' re hauling big ticket items this year I ' d like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn ' t broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes,Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don ' t fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don ' t eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children ' s hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it ' s too late to find any of these products, I ' d settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being

served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don ' t mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to

brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.

Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don ' t catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don ' t eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet. (you promised me last year you would lose some weight with me so next year you and I could be a cute size two blonde...ok, some requests go too far, but none the less.....

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children, healthy, safe and of course, young enough to always believe in Santa.

The only child that listenst to me seems to be Timmy!

I love babies, I just love them. I would have 12 if they didn't all turn into kids and cost money and physically drain me. I just love to hold my babies..some say I spoil them, but really how long do you actually get to hold the little child you know? So I always whisper in to Timmy's ear "oh just don't grow and just stay this cute forever!" (not that I don't love my other children because I do, I just love the newborn and young infants stage a lot). Well I'll be a monkey's uncle, because Timmy listened to me. I took him on Thursday for his six month well check and the boy hadn't grown! He did gain a 1/2 pound. But didn't grown and inch and I believe his head was around the same, because all of his percentiles went down, his height dropped to 3%. For those non parents out there, or for those its been a long time since you have been to the doctor for a little kid, it means that out of 100 kids his age, only 2 are smaller than him. But thats ok, he is very cute and we love him. And man he is obedient. I did tell him he did have to grow taller because it is part of life. So we will see at his 9 month check up.

As for the other kids, they are doing well. Gregory is excelling in school academically (ok so a little bragging on my part) but he seems to have big issues with rushing through his work to be the first one done and making careless mistakes, and also he has major problems with just talking too much. I think he might end up being in politics he is so social. His teacher said he seems to be a little more concerned about letting her know what everyone else is doing than being focused on what he should be doing. Funny story though today at church we waited around to do our Tithing Settlement and Gregory just started chatting up with one of my friend's grandmother. He just sat there telling her stories and asking her questions. I thought that maybe I should take him to some retirement homes, because he told me that he had fun hearing her stories and telling his. He and I also took a walk after church around the neighborhood and he and I just talked. We picked some mistletoe and he put it over my head and gave me a kiss. He really is a sweet kid and fun to be with. Though he really does have a lot to say.

Bethany, not sure whats going on with her lately, she just seems to think it is funny to get my goat, since it is pretty easy to do lately. She does like to help me and is willing to do pretty much anything I ask her to do. Tonight she wanted to mop the kitchen floor but I told her we didn't need to do that tonight because it is Sunday. Though she pointed out all the messy spots on the floor- yes there was an otter pop melted on the floor, all dried up bright and green! I did get that with a wet rag because well lets just say its been a few days since the kids have eaten some. She is constantly aware of Timmy's needs and brings him to me, or tries her best to calm him down. Did I ever tell you she has the most amazing memory too. She is really good about remembering people and their names. A wonderful trait that I wish I had. She also loves to sing, today she was singing all the Christmas Hymns at church. She wants a hymn book for Christmas or her birthday!

Emily, sweet Emily! She is speaking more and more each day and it is great to finally start hearing her thoughts. Funny story today. Gregory kept repeating everything Eric was telling me about his High Adventure trip this coming year. He was getting a little more than irritated with Gregory. He picks up a rag doll and puts it in his lap. Gregory starts repeating again. Emily walks over grabs the doll and tosses it at Gregory saying "stop it!"...She likes to always inform me that "baby cry, momma" and is very concerned if I don't pick him up instantly. I also love that any time we drive by a Sonic she says "hi Josh, hi Sarah" there the parents of the girl Faith I watch. Josh is the GM of a Sonic and Sarah car hops. So any time we pass a Sonic she has to say hi to him. Its pretty cute.

Well enough chat of my kids, got a little one crying for me, and a dad who thinks its my turn to watch him.

The poster boy for the U/U!

The poster boy for the U/U!

6 Hotdogs- $12.00

Designer Shorts- $96.00,

Souvenir Boots from Laramie- $150.00

Having this guy NOT be a BYU fan…

PRICELESS

I know why I get blue during Christmas...

not that I don't enjoy receiving Christmas Cards with all the wonderful pictures and letters, but I think it puts into my mind, how perfectly wonderful everyone else is and how totally lame I and my life are. Not that I don't think my life is wonderful and I love my family and life, I just read people's letters, and how their two year old is potty trained and the next Tiger Woods and how they sailed around the world in a 50 foot yacht during the summer. I know I am probably comparing myself too much, but they do tend to bring me down a little, and then I often wonder how fun it would be to receive a letter telling the woes and sorrows of the year and how one can't wait for a new year cuz this last one really sucked! Maybe I just need to go take my zoloft but really do we need to brag so much?

So here's my top Ten things I am proud of this year.... no wait start with the top Ten things that really stunk this year.....

1. ... still thinking...
1. Getting a severe allergic reaction post c-section
2. having scarlet fever
3. traumatic iud placement
4. hospitalization (missed a family reunion)
5. bed rest
6. getting the flu for three weeks while pregnant and 104 fever for three days
7. Gregory getting his appendix out
8. Timmy having an opening at the end of his spine
9. best friend moving away
10. money problems....well that seems to be every year

ok I have more than 10...
11. Bethany dropped out of preschool
12. I babysat and didn't get paid
13. I lost a lot of weight when I was sick and seem to have found it again...
(can't leave it at 13 that's a bad number)
14. had to get a new car because the mazda couldn't hold on anymore
15. our fridge died and had to get a new one.
16. Gregory gets in trouble for talking too much in school.
17. we have a principal that won't let parents on campus to help out.
18. My children never listen to me and I feel like I am going to lose my voice some days
19. and as much as I love my children some days I just don't really like them much...

Ok so you know some dirt about me...

Ok on to the chipper and merriness of the year:

1. Timothy was born
2. Kids have stayed relatively healthy
3. Eric just got a long over due promotion
4. we have a house
5. I am alive (though some days not so sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing)
6. Eric loves me
7. i went on a fun get away for the weekend
8. Bethany and Emily play really well together
9. I have begun to sleep 5 consecutive hours...well that was interrupted this last week.
10. I have really cool extended family and friends
11. my children need me......

really I am out of here....Cheers!!!

"inky oh?"

Yesterday I go to lay Emily done for her nap, lately she will tell me "crib mommy, crib". She and Bethany have been sick with the croup and so I think she has liked snuggling up in her crib, surrounded by her bumper pads. Well anyway, I start to put her in her crib and she says, with her arms up in the air palms up, "inky oh? inky oh mommy?" I said "what?" She replies "inky oh mommy?? inky oh?" I said "Emily I don't understand what you are asking me. She looks at me and says "Where did my Binky go mommy?" I just looked at her dumbfounded, she is a lot smarter than she lets us believe. Silly girl! hiding the fact that she really can speak. So we will be working on her speech a lot more. I was getting close to calling a speech therapist since she is 2 1/2. Anyway it still makes me laugh that she did that.

But you know she is so cute you just can't resist helping her with her little grunts and pointing and baby talk!

My little Pumpkins

One of these kids likes the pumpkin and one doesn't can you tell?

Time Flies

This is our family last year this time....
and here we are this year

It is truly amazing how fast time flies, and how much one can change in a year, or how much in life can change for you. Time just keeps going whether we want it to our not. Yesterday at the Young Men's basketball game I ran into Jacqui Palmer, I used to babysit her kids sometimes and taught them swim lessons. We were talking and I realized her youngest (now a sophmore in high school) was the same age as Emily when I first knew them, and started teaching swim lessons to them. It doesn't seem like that long ago and now I have kids that age. Man they will be all grown up before I know it! Speaking of growing up fast here are some fun pictures from times past.

My Family in 1979, here are Greg and Bethany (Jan 2004) and then a compiled pic of Emily and Bethany both at age 7 months..
Amazing how time flies...

Youngest twos Photo Shoot

Today we had the fun opportunity of doing a photo shoot for a pamphlet for a group called ECI. Emily had a blast being the center of attention. It just made me want to take some studio photography classes. Hopefully our pictures will turn up in some fliers. ECI does Easter Seals, Any baby can and other home based therapy groups for children birth to age three. Anyway loved the pictures. Thought I'd share. Off to watch CSI!

Is this not AWESOME or WHAT!

So I have the link to Cheryl's awesome floral art, well here is a copy of a picture she made of the Salt Lake City temple, out of pressed flowers. She got the inspiration from my wedding picture. She is truly amazing!! check out her site when you get a minute. www.florals_in_design.com if that link doesn't work go to the link on the side.

Corrine

Keeping Kids in their beds sleeping is like trying to make a domino maze five miles long without it being knocked down before you finish!

You know how you are setting up one of those long domino mazes, carefully getting them close enough so that when you are ready to tip the first one, the whole thing goes down with out a hitch. But then your little charm bracelet, accidentally hits one of them and then the whole thing goes down down down and you try so hard to reach in and stop it mid way but by doing so push down more and then you have to start all over??!!!

Well I have decided that is how it is to get four kids sleeping all at the same time. Last night, we had no stories because we went to get a tv, a whole other story, and so the kids fell asleep in the car. Yeah for us, not having to battle the "I want one more story!" "Just one more please!!" and the leave the light on" and so on. But comes the intricate part of taking the kids out of the car one at a time, carefully going up the stairs to put them in their bed to make sure that they are still asleep, and stay that way.

Well we got 3 out of 4 safely in their beds. Timmy woke up and decided he wanted to stay awake and hang out for a bit. Well I get Timmy in bed, and decide to do a little emailing and cleaning up upstairs. Then I hear the moans and cries, that begin to set my little maze off. Bethany comes stumbling out of her room, adjusting her pull up and rubbing her eyes. Then she climbs in our bed. I figured I would move her to the blanket on the floor that we have out in case a child comes to our room at night, though sometimes I think it is an open invitation to come sleep on our floor.

When I am ready for bed I put Bethany on the floor, cover her up and then curl up in my bed. Not too long after I fall asleep, I hear the mumbling of another child, Emily. She crawls in to bed, not quietly thats for sure. After she gets herself comfortable, usually with a few feet under me and a few flips later. I finally fall asleep. Well I decide at some point my feet are rather cramped and I need to stretch. As I stretch my legs, I hear a THUMP and a WHHAAAAAAAAAA! Some how Bethany was next to me and Emily was at the bottom of the bed. I quickly try to calm her down and put her next to me, but she is screaming. So I put her on Eric, go to put Bethany on the ground on the floor bed, and Gregory is sleeping there. I put her next to him. Then Emily starts to calm down, when I begin to hear the whimpers and moans of Timmy. Eric decides to go work on the computer, I feed Timmy and finally finally all my dominos are in a row and we can sleep. Yeah isn't it fun!

Slide Show of October 2007

Things I thought I'd never hear come out of my mouth!

Yesterday we were at the park and I got a call from Eric telling me he was heading home from CA. As I am talking to him, I stop and yell "No you can't go POOOH on the grass!" Eric started laughing and asked to whom was I yelling that to. It was my dear sweet Bethany and her Friend Faith! Hello, who would have thought that one day I'd be telling someone to not pooh on the lawn.

I am sure there will be other times when I hear things come out of my mouth that I thought never would like "Get your brother's foot out of your mouth!" Well have a great day!

Halloween!

Ok this blogging thing is so much fun, who cares about unpacking and doing laundry, there is always tomorrow. I just had to post some of our fun pictures from Halloween! We had a wonderful time at our church Trunk or Treat! I hardly had Timmy with me because I think he got to go trick or treating with every single young woman there.

I think the odds are better to be struck by lightening!

Ok So I am standing in the SLC airport waiting to get on to my plane to head back to Austin, and who do I see, my brother in law Darrin. I was so surprised. He got to see Timmy for the first time. Ok so bumping into my brother in law, at the SLC airport, not so unusual since he travels a lot. Then the fact that we are on the same plane, kind of odd. Well they call to board us, and as we walk on the plane, guess who is sharing seats...Yeah you guessed it me and my brother in law. It was great to sit and talk to him. And also even better he got Timmy to go to sleep for me and he held him, since the flight was too full to put my carseat on!! Thanks Darrin! OK and I don't know how to flip pictures! Sorry

Trip to California

So my wonderful husband Eric who works with elections and voting systems, gets to travel a lot for work. Well we decided a lot is a relative term. Seems to me and the kids he gets to go a lot. For Eric I think its not as much fun, or a real vacation as we the kids seem to think sometimes. Anyway this past month he has been working on and off in California. So he decided to get me a trip, arranged babysitting for the older three kids, and sent me and Timmy to hang out with him for five days in Northern California. What a blast. I don't know how many know this but I grew up in Northern California and love the bay area. I had forgotten how beautiful it is there.

So Timmy and I flew out on Wednesday Nov. 28. While in a 3 hour layover in SLC we met up with my parents, my niece and nephew (Megan and Jack- Aly's kids) and my friend Sheri. It was fun to just hang out and see them.

Then I was able to meet up with several of my high school buddies! What a wonderful time to sit together and catch up. It had been about 14 years since I had last seen them all. It was crazy how long it had been and then how it seemed we hadn't been apart for very long at all. They all looked so great. As we ate lunch at Pedros we just talked about the "good old days" and caught each other up on the past years that we had missed each other.

One day my friend Kate and her daughter Audrey picked Timmy and me up and we headed for San Francisco, we had a blast! I got to eat yummy clam chowder in a sourdough bowl...mmm tastey! I just had a wonderful time.

Eric and I drove down Highway 1 and took Timmy to the beach for the first time, we went to Twin Lakes, one of my old stomping ground beaches. I sure miss the west coast, didn't think I did, but man I'd love to be able to go back. I really didn't want to leave. Though I was anxious to see Greg, Bethany and Emily. I just had a wonderful time.

beginnings of my blog

I was motivated by a recent visit of a friend to start my own blog. I am not really sure how this really works or if anyone will ever read or see it. But I thought since my life is so exciting I'd begin by journaling it and sharing pictures of it. Anyone who has known me in the past knows I love to journal. And I typically do so in my little books by my night stand, but with four kids it is next to impossible for me to keep them up as I used to. So I thought hey why not try another way. And at the same time be able to share pictures, funny moments and life happenings with others. So here we go. And as for my blog title, well I feel I have the almost perfect American family although we don't have a dog or a picket fence but we do have a white tub! I love my little family and my life that I have with them. And I can't forget the wonderful husband Eric that I have. Well enjoy and maybe I will be able to post more! Lets just see.