Learning and Remembering

The kids all have pictures of family in their rooms, and after Cory's dad passed away in November, specifically requested pictures of Pa.  The other day, Paige was "helping" me straighten up a few things in Ian's room, and she noticed the pictures Ian had on his nightstand.  She walked over and picked up a picture of Pa with his arms around Elise and Ian.  She looked at it for a minute and started pointing at Pa.  For just a minute, I was hit with a wave of sadness to realize that she never really got the chance to have any memories with her grandpa.  I felt like as she looked at that picture, that I was introducing her to someone she really didn't know yet.  And just as quickly, I realized that it was up to me to make sure she came to know him.  So I told her, "Oh, sweetie.  That's Pa.  Can you say 'Pa'?"  She babbled in baby talk for a minute and then said, "Pa."   For several minutes she looked at his picture, pointed to it, and said "Pa" several times.

My heart hurts to know that he is gone and that she won't have the chance to get peanuts out of his blue cooler when he visits, write on the notepad he keeps in his pocket or have him pull her up to sit on his lap.  But we will tell her stories about him.  We will sing the songs he sang to his children.  We will remember him.  And we will give her our memories of him.  And through those, she will know him.  Both my grandfathers passed away before I turned three, so I didn't have much time with them in this life.  But my parents kept them alive for me.  They talked about them often, told me stories about them and shared their memories of them with me.  And I feel close to both of them, as if I'd had much longer to spend with them than I did.  I feel like I know them.  Because, in a way I do.  And most importantly, I love them and I know they love me too.  And I know that Paige will know and love her Grandpa too.  In fact, she's already starting to. I am so thankful that families are forever.

The "Pine Derby Race"

Cory is the Cubmaster for the cub scout pack at church.  This last month he's been planning and organizing the Pinewood Derby, which took place this weekend.  This week he cut out a car to use for the "Cubmaster's Challenge" after the race, to see which boys could beat his car.  Ian was fascinated by the whole process, from the design to the painting to the "weighting".  When we told him he could attend the pinewood derby with his Daddy this weekend, you'd have thought we'd offered him a day at Disneyworld.  Really, it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.  He was up Saturday morning bright and early, getting dressed and ready for the "pine derby race", as he called it.  And fortunately, it didn't disappoint.  He loved seeing the boys cars, watching them race, and especially seeing his dad beat all but about three of the boys.  When we told him that it was only about a year and half until he could build his own car, he had a look of complete disbelief.  And just when he thought his day couldn't get any better.  I love that little boy who is able to find excitement in even the small things of life.  And I cannot wait to cheer him on at his very own pine derby race!

A Few Funnies

Sometimes I think I had kids just for the entertainment.  They are always making me laugh about something.  Here are a few that really got me recently.

Ian and Elise were wrestling playing in the kitchen and Elise yells, "You'd better watch out or I will give you a wedgie!" (Let me just note that I haven't said the word wedgie in a really long time--if ever, so I'm assuming I have the public education system to thank for this.)  Ian runs off screaming, "Ahhhhhhh, not a wedgie!!!"  I wasn't aware Elise knew what a wedgie was, much less Ian, so I asked, "Ian, do you know what a wedgie is?"  He looked at me with a puzzled look and said, "Actually, no."  Apparently Elise's tone of voice had communicated all he really needed to know.

I had to take Elise to the doctor yesterday.  Ian was with Cory and I had the girls with me.  Merry Grace decided to tell us some funny things from the movie, Shrek.  It went something like this, "One time on Shrek there was this dog and he could do this thing and he went to a house and I think it was Shrek's house and there were a lot of babies and the dog was talking to the babies and there were like a hundred babies and the dog tried to run away but Shrek's mommy wasn't in the movie I don't think I don't know and the dog was Shrek's friend...." And it goes on and on and on and none of it reminds me of anything I've ever seen in Shrek, except maybe when she says the name Shrek.  So she has gone on and on and one for a while and Elise goes, "Oh, Merry Grace.  That sounds so....unreal!"  It was the perfect use of sarcasm and it made me laugh out loud.

A few months ago, my mom mentioned to my brother that he ought to check out my blog once in a while and see what we and the kids were up to.  So for the first time in a really, really, really long time he decided to read the latest post.  It just happened to be a post where I, in some form or another, referred to my boobies. :)  He was horrified and hasn't read the blog since.  So I'm giving you a heads up, dear readers.  This story is about boobies, so if you might get freaked out, stop reading now.

The other day I was getting dressed and (of course) Merry Grace and Paige were following me around.  Merry Grace was (again) puzzled and intrigued by the idea of boobies.  So she asked, "Mommy, how did you get your big boobies?" (And can I just say bless her for calling them big!!!)  "Well," I told her, "It just happens when you get older and when you grow up, it will happen to you too."  You could tell she was thinking about that and then she turned her head to the side and said, "But how come they are kind of hanging down so much?"  I tried to stifle a laugh and before I could respond she said, "Maybe its because they aren't glued down very well."  Um, yes, sweetheart.  That's it exactly.  If only a little glue would do the trick. :)

I mean, really.  What would I do for entertainment without these kids? :)

Just another "blog post"

Merry Grace has started using quotation marks when she talks.  You know, she'll bend the first two fingers on each hand to "quote" a word.  I guess she's seen some of us adults use them.  The funny thing is that she uses them completely inappropriately.  For example, she was talking to my mom on the phone and she says, "Would you like to talk to my (slight pause) 'mom'?"  You know, I actually am her mother, so it doesn't really make sense.  Or she'll say to me, "I want to sit beside my...'dad'."  Oh, trust me.  He's your DAD.  Not your "dad."  She uses them all the time and I've yet to see her use them appropriately.  She'll talk about her dad being at "work", wanting to eat a "snack" or needing to use the "bathroom".  That little girl sure makes me..."laugh." :)

She also likes to use silly words sometimes.  You might remember the phases she's gone through of saying "boobies" and "booty". (Gotta love it, right?)  Now she's opted for the completely made up word, "boodoo".  I have no idea what it means, although she always says it with a snicker, like she just said something mischievous.  Lots of things can be "boodoo"--her vegetables at dinner, her shoes or a book from the library.  It can also be a synonym for "good-bye", as I heard her say on a voicemail she was leaving for my mom--"Call me back, Grammy.  Boodoo."  And you know, it is kind of funny.  I really can't help but chuckle a little when I hear her call out, "I'm going to get you Paigie.  Boodoo!"  I'm pretty sure she's going to win this one.  In fact, I think she already has.

Valentines

Last Friday was the annual Valentine's Party for the kids at school.  So we spent Thursday evening making Valentine's they could take to class.  Ian drew a heart and wrote his name on each one, then I wrote the message he had for each classmate.  I thought what he wrote was so cute.  Almost every boy's valentine related to running.  I guess that's what impresses Ian most.  Most of them were talking about what a great runner each friend was.  I had to edit a couple of the ones he dictated.  For example: "Dear _______,  You are a good runner.  But you get tired sometimes.  So when you get tired you walk and don't run.  You are a good friend."  Or another favorite of mine: "Dear ________, You like to run.  When you run you are not always the last person.  Sometimes you are, but not always.  I like playing with you."  So I left a few parts of those out and just wrote the good parts. :)  It was all I could do to keep from laughing, though.

Apparently this little boy is the one to beat at running. Sometimes Ian beats him, but not always.  When he does, he's pretty excited.

This little girl is his best friend.  I think coming from a family of sisters, he really enjoys playing with the girls in his class.  :)

This little boy is also a good runner, apparently.  Right up there with the best of them.  I had so much fun working on these Valentines.

Elise also wrote out valentine's to each of her classmates.  Her teacher had asked that they just sign their names to the cards and not write them out to each person to make the passing out part easier.  Elise was not on board with this plan and insisted on writing a note to each person in her class.  She didn't have a class list to go by and when I asked whether she'd be able to remember each person, she gave me a look of utter disbelief and told me, "I can easily remember every person.  I know exactly where they sit."  And remember she did.  She even found something nice to say about several of the "annoying boys" in her class.  I would have taken pictures of her cards too, but she was on the ball and already had them packed up and ready to go when I decided to get out the camera. :)

Even though it was a lot of work to make them and get them ready, we had such a great time working on them together and when they came home the next afternoon with tons of candy, they thought it was worth it too. :)

Chocolate Pudding, Anyone?

Yesterday after school, I made chocolate pudding for the kids to have for a snack.  Although there's not much to it, pudding is more of an older kid food.  Let's say, kids old enough to eat with their shirt on and use a spoon.  However, I'm a sucker for a cute baby face, so Paige couldn't be left out of the fun.  

This was her first taste of chocolate pudding, as its not something we have very often.  After this incident, I can see why.

At this point is there really any need to use a spoon?  Way to go, though.  Way to go!

I think she was pretty excited to be able to make such a mess.  And honestly, can you resist that face?  I want to give her a big ol' sloppy kiss, chocolate and all!!!

I had to take this video of her eating the pudding.  It was just too cute.  I think this is something only a mother could love.  My favorite part is when, about halfway through, she starts dipping her hand in the pudding, smearing it on her other arm, and licking it off there.  I guess its too simple to just eat it off your "dipping" hand.  

I didn't record the whole clean-up process, but trust me--she had a good bath.  I finally took her out because it looked like she was bathing in hot chocolate. :)  I thought maybe we'd be reversing the cleaning process at that point.  I'm not really planning on another pudding feast anytime soon, as it will take me some time to recover from the exhaustive clean-up. :)  But it sure was cute!

Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl!!!

I should have known she would be an easy baby, right from the start. Once we found out we were having a girl, we decided we needed to come up with a name.  We knew her middle name would be Grace (after me, my grandmother and great-grandmother), but were having a hard time deciding on a name.  Cory was leaning toward Catherine, when we thought of Mary, his Grandmother's name.  By changing the spelling to Merry, we thought we had a winner.  After all, we thought, we wanted a happy baby.  So what better name than Merry?  So Merry Grace she would be.

She was certainly my easiest delivery.  She was due on February the 5th, a Sunday.  But Sunday found me in church right along with everyone else, instead of in the hospital having a baby.  It was really fun hearing the fifty different versions of "Oh, you're still pregnant?", "Aren't you about ready to have that baby?" and "You look like you could pop any day now!"  Oh yes, fun times.  The real miracle of the day was the fact that no violence was used  against these well-intentioned comments. :)

By Wednesday, I was looking for any sign, any excuse to see my doctor and hope I could get that baby out.  I'd had contractions off and on for weeks, but I thought maybe there was the slightest chance they were getting more regular, so the doctor said I could come for an appointment around 1pm and he would check things out.  I was hoping against hope that somehow I could go ahead to the hospital,  so I packed overnight bags for Cory and I, dropped the kids off with their Aunt Amanda, and picked up Cory at his office.  On our way to the doctor, Cory asked me how I was feeling and if I was having more contractions.  "No", I said glumly.  "I'm not feeling a thing."  Once at my appointment, the doctor checked me out and to my complete elation calls out, "Hello, membranes!  You're at a 5, maybe more!  We're going to get you over to the hospital and have this baby!"

By 2:30pm we had called all the parents, gotten checked in, and hooked up to all the equipment and settled in for the long haul.  I had my epidural (glory, glory, hallelujah) and by 8:00pm I was ready to push.  My parents showed up just in time to see me and wish me luck while the nurses readied the room for delivery.  With my parents back out the door and the doctor in, I had about two really good pushes and Merry Grace was born into the world at 8:23pm.  She weighed 8lbs. 6oz. and had a head full of dark hair.  She looked just like Ian did when he was a baby and was the cutest, cutest thing ever.

The official weighing in...8lbs. 6oz. and cute as a button!

All swaddled and snuggled.  She was born to love that passy.

Elise, the proud big sister.

Ian, just in LOVE with that new baby.

My little tarheels.  Don't you love Elise cutting her eyes at Ian for being too silly?!

My Three. 

With such an easy start, I should have known what a joy she would be.  She was a happy-go-lucky baby, easy to please and easy to take anywhere.  Potty training was a piece of cake, fits are practically non-existent (although when they do come, they are doozies), and she's almost always on her best behavior.  She's got some spunk that comes from being the third child, a contagious laugh that leaves you no choice but to join in, and a sassy streak a mile wide.  Oh, how we love her.  She's lived up to all the merriment of her name.

Today she is Four Years Old.  I guess she's been trying to pick out the perfect birthday outfit, because so far today I've seen her in 15 different combinations, from jeans to skirts, short sleeves to long sleeves, and dresses.  She's also been working on her hair style for the day.  She's had head bands and hair bows and ribbons.  Right now she's got pigtails and a head band.  Each one is just as cute as the previous one.  She even drew "whiskers" all over her face with an eye pencil so she could be a lion.  She decided they didn't look cute with a skirt so they're gone now.

Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl!!!

Babies Don't Keep

Before I had children, I had an idyllic idea of what being a mother would be like.  It was all roses and baby powder, sweet kisses and tender moments.  I didn't imagine the moments that would be filled with snot and poopy, tantrums and destruction, puke and piles of dirty laundry.  I didn't know about the times my patience would be hanging by a thread or the times tears of frustration and exhaustion would spill over uncontrollably.

Having Elise turned my world upside down.  On the one hand I was experiencing a love that I couldn't believe existed, at the same time that I was struggling with a colicky, non-sleeping, always-eating infant. I was unsure of myself, unsure of my mothering skills, but also in constant amazement at this lovely little baby that was mine.  And I felt like I had time to appreciate all her little accomplishments, because all I had was time.

Then came baby number two and I wasn't quite so out of my element.  I realized I had done it before, and while this baby was different, I had more confidence that I could handle it.  And he was snuggly and sweet and a rambunctious mess and everything went by just a little bit faster.

And then came baby number three.  And this time, I could really relax, because by now I'd done this twice.  Oh, she was a sweet baby. And it was so fun to see the older children with this new little bundle of joy.  But I had three children under the age of 5 and life was so busy keeping them healthy and happy and entertained.  And everything went by a LOT faster.

And then came Baby Paige, who I hope will not be my last baby, but who also reminded me that I'm much closer to being done than getting started.  And while four babies was overwhelming to me, this time I KNEW how fast things were going to go by.  And I just wanted to treasure every single moment I had with her.  I didn't want Cory to get up with her during the night.  I wanted that time all to myself with my darling baby.  I wanted to snuggle up with her during her nightly feedings, look at her chubby little cheeks, marvel at the little button nose and tiny red lips on her sweet little face.  I wanted my mind to capture every moment of her babyhood and never forget it.  Because already, in the blink of an eye, she's almost  18 months old, and I can't for the life of me figure out where the time went.

There are still days where I get frazzled and worn out and overwhelmed and frustrated.  There are sleepless nights with kids who won't sleep or an bed stuffed full of kids who have crawled into bed in the middle of the night.  There are times I lose my patience, when I'm tired of refereeing another disagreement or wishing I didn't have to wipe another poopy bum.  But since having Paige, I've even more clearly realized how quickly they grow up, and I know there will come a day when I'd give anything to have a little one toddle into my bedroom in the middle of the night.  Until then, I'm going to try to enjoy all the snuggle time, the slobbery kisses, the messes and the craziness, because as I know all too well...babies don't keep.

BABIES DON'T KEEP

Mother, oh Mother,

come shake out your cloth,

empty the dustpan,

poison the moth,

hang out the washing

and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house

is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery,

blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little

Boy Blue (lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping's not done

and there's nothing for stew

and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing

will wait till tomorrow,

for Children grow up,

as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.

Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep......

~Author Unknown ~

Paige is a Mess

Really, she is.  A big mess.  By child number four, there's quite a bit we've seen in the way of children.  But there's always another adventure, something new to experience.  We've never had a climber.  Not a climber like Sweet Baby Paige.  She's like a climbing junkie.  No matter how many obstacles we remove from her path, she finds another one to climb.

This morning, she climbed up onto the computer desk and stood up while Merry Grace was watching Barney (her new love.)  She is almost 3 feet off the ground and has NO FEAR.

So after I snapped a couple of pictures, we turned the computer chair over on its side and got Merry Grace a stool she could sit on that would keep her up and Paige down.  Score: Paige-1, Mother-1.

So she went into the kitchen and climbed into the booster seat, over the back of the chair and into the kitchen window.  *sigh*

In her defense, she really did feel sorry for doing it.  (*imagine my voice dripping with sarcasm*)  So I got her down and made sure the chair was scooted far enough under the table that she couldn't pull that stunt again.  Score: Paige-2, Mother-2.

Before this incident, I already had all the other chairs laying on the ground.  Her favorite thing is to climb up onto the table and park it up there, so this is the daily routine at our house after each meal--lay your chair on the floor.  Everyone has the cute decorating ideas these days.  This is mine.  I'm expecting Better Homes and Gardens to show up any day now for my photo shoot.

So with another fun play area restricted, she decided to climb onto the black stove in the living room.  This is probably the most dangerous place she likes to play and also the hardest to restrict.

But, as usual, she felt really bad that she'd worried her Mommy.  So I got her down and took down all the *fun* objects she was trying to reach up there and put them somewhere else.  Score: Paige-3, Mother-3.  In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not getting ahead here.

Then she had a really wet diaper, which I changed and then once she had a clean diaper on, she pooped.  So I changed that one too.  But she did throw both diapers away for me.  Score: Paige-4, Mother-4.

And this was all by 9:45am.  This girl really wears me out.  But she gives the sweetest hugs and kisses in all the world and she has a spunky little personality that keeps me giggling.  So what can you do with a baby who's nothing but love?

Not a thing.  Just love her even more.