Developmentally Sound

Nothing says your son is developing normally than the average everyday antic.

I had just finished mopping the kitchen and went into Ember's room to supervise the cleaning of the mountain of toys, blankets, books, sheets, and other odd items that get played with in one afternoon. Some makeshift version of "house" is what I am told. I walk out to check on Owen...and it smells good. Like fresh. clean. floors. Owen was just in my room playing.

See Owen. See Owen swim. OK, not really. But there he was in the middle of a mop water ocean puddle. Splashing around like it is some sort of one year old water theme park. Water water everywhere. Who knew that half a bucket full of water could cover that much floor area?

In the flood: 1 child (whi was having so much fun it was hard to keep him out of the kitchen to clean up), a bag full of books...library books (eek), and a soggy diaper bag.

Why did I have to ask for it to be Friday?

Thank goodness for chemical free floor cleaner.

NTS: Find some way to dump mop water while floor is still wet. Forget it, problem solved....stop mopping.

Why isn't it Friday yet?!

I have one child that is a terror ATM, and nothing I say or do is calming down the HULK. He has lost a lot of extras tonight with the temper tantrum he has thrown. Seriously, I am at my wits end and don't know what to do! Time outs and taking away tickets and privileges don't seem to be helping. He hardly ever gets like this, but when he does...it is bad.

I won't be able to make it to the Parenting Round Table this week because I need to get my visiting teaching in and that is when one of my sisters can meet.

My SIL's kids are over at their Grandma's house now. Long story short, she didn't want to divulge any information about what was going on with ANYTHING. I felt taken advantage of, and she didn't want to budge, so she took them elsewhere. Needless to say, sleep has been easier the last few days.

Jaxen is going to have a new teacher starting Tuesday. Apparently the school anticipated a lot more first graders then they got....so his teacher (being the newest) is moving up to third grade and her students are being dispersed among the remaining 4 first grade teachers.

Owen slept through the night last night.

I canned 7 pints of peaches today! My second experience in canning, and it was fun.

After 3 kids it's all the same

Isn't it interesting how life throws you some interesting curves? Shaunton's sister asked us last week if we would be willing to take her two children and have them stay with us for the next 5 months until she finishes school. (She would have them on weekends and come throughout the week to visit). His sister is 22, single, and has two children, ages 2 and 3. She is going to school right now to be a medical assistant. This is not something I would ever have thought she would ask, or anything I ever thought I would say yes to.

I know that if she doesn't finish now, she might not ever go back and do it. She is in between jobs, and even if she was working, she is going to school during the day and would have to work nights. Daycares aren't open at night. I don't particularly want to have her to kids staying with me, but I do want her to finish school so she can do something better with her life. If it means doing this for her for the next 5 months, then it is worth it.

Granted, her son has thrown two tantrums today, scratched me and his sister, and said "no" so many times I can still hear his voice after he is sleeping. He also kept Shaunton and I up late into the night crying. Poor thing needs time to adjust. Hey, it's not going to be easy.

I plan to work on potty training Davis as soon as I can figure out what it is that he is saying. I still can't understand him...you know, you can really only understand your own kid when they are that little. Serenity (my niece) is so inquisitive and easy to entertain. She spends most of the time by herself, but occasionally interacts with Ember. Age thing is my guess.

I have managed to go grocery shopping (with 4 of them, while Jaxen was in school) without much of a hitch. I did have to tell Davis to sit down (he was in the cart) more times than I can count, but no one cried or threw a fit. I also made a quick trip to Fry's on the way home from getting Jaxen, and that too went well. I had plenty of comments and looks.

That ends day one of How Many Kids Can You Sanely Handle Institute: Try before You Buy Conceive.

Monday's 5 things to remember

DON'T sample produce in a grocery store without knowing exactly what it is you are sampling. Experimenting like this can lead to a burning tongue and watery eyes. NTS: Grapes do not ease this pain.

DON'T let you kids nails grow long enough to rival Wolverine's. You, or a child in your home, might be/become the target of a tantrum throwing two year old. NTR: The child referenced is my nephew, my kids are all nail biters. Still trying to figure that one out.

DO clip those nails ASAP, before they take your eye out. NTR: No child was hurt in the declawing process.

DO know that getting the "first poop out" helps your butt "breathe" so you can finish going to the bathroom....don't ask, at least I know know that I shouldn't.

DON'T try making your baby smile and/or laugh while nursing them. This can cause a severe pinch-like pain and a startled yelp, and in worst cases, has required the jaws of life to extract the pinched part.

Sunny Days are Here to Stay!

For his birthday, Jaxen got a really cool ant farm. So cool, it has a "night light" and everything. We thought about catching the ants ourselves, seeing as how our backyard seems to always be infected with them, but thought better of it once we really couldn't figure out how to do it without getting bit in the process. So, I wrote out a check for four dollars and sent it in to the ant farm people. Pretty expensive for 25-30 of the little pests, but at least I don't have to try and catch them myself. I am supposed to get my Jaxen's ants in 4-6 weeks. Imagine my surprise when I get the following email about 4 weeks later:

---EMAIL---

Hello,

Thank you for your ant order! We are emailing to inform you that the temperatures in your area are not conducive to the safe shipping of your creatures. In order to safely ship your ants, we require a ten day, day-time average falling below the 85 degree mark. As soon as we see this average, we will ship your ants and notify you via email that they are on their way.

Thank you for choosing Uncle Milton Industries.

-----END EMAIL---

I was laughing so hard when I read this! Hmm, 85 degrees for 10 days straight? Does that happen in Arizona? So, looks like Jaxen might get his ants before Christmas. I wonder if I should wrap up the ants? (Never mind, probably not a good idea, I wouldn't want to kill them when I just got em.) I could probably get away with wrapping up the ant farm and it would be one less gift to buy. It's been buried in the hall closet since his birthday. :)

Owen's birthday

We decided that for Owen's first birthday that we would just have a "small" birthday party with family. Not that our family is small or anything. We had a nice dinner and spent time together before getting to the good stuff.
Any doubts about Owen being too small to open his own presents was put to rest quickly. He was able to grab out tissue paper faster than lightning and really had fun with the one wrapped gift that he got. He liked the sound of paper ripping, and could care less what was inside the color coated outside of the gift.
Yum, time for cake! He was fascinated by the candle, and has his grubby hands in the cake before we even started singing. Jaxen and Ember, the big helpful siblings they are, helped Owen blow out his candle. I know you are surprised by the lack of decorating on the cake, cakes are my specialty, but honestly he can't decide what he wants yet, so we just went with something easy...and soon to be messy.

If that is not one of the cutest things you have even seen, then you have been looking for CUTE in all the wrong places. It was straight into the tub for this little guy.

It didn't really hit me until we were singing Happy Birthday that my little boy is ONE.

It was one year ago today that Owen made his way into this world. A tiny little guy. One year ago today I thought I was going home to be on bed rest, finally out of the lonely hospital after 5 weeks. I went in for one last ultrasound to check the clot, and that is when the bleeding started full force all over again. I was losing a lot. I called the nurse, who put the monitors back on. The baby was not doing well. The whole time I was in the hospital, up until the point, the baby had been fine, they had been worried about me, and the amount of blood I was losing. Now, it was the baby they were worried about. I called Shaun and I was rushed into the OR, with doctors calmly telling me what I can expect with the baby being born so early.

I was scared. I had never had a C-section before. Can you feel that? Yes. I mean does it hurt? No, but I can feel it. My worst nightmare. Having my baby too early and feeling the whole thing. I told Shaun to talk to me about anything, just keep me occupied. The tugging and pulling was a very weird sensation. Shaun tells me they pull out Owen feet first and how weird it was to see his body with his head still inside me. (This was afterward, of course). I don't remember how small he was, when I saw him he was wrapped, and my head had twist at a weird angle to see him. His eyes were open and he was breathing on his own, I think he surprised everyone. He ended up on a breathing machine later, because it was too much stress after the PIC line was put in, and he needed to save his energy for growing. But, we knew we had a fighter on our hands, and we were thankful.

My little guy spent 12 long weeks in the hospital. Now it is all a distant, and surreal, memory. I know that Heavenly Father walked me through it and gave me the strength, patience, and endurance to be strong for myself, my family, and Owen. It wasn't always an easy journey, but we made it through. I am glad I kept a journal so I can have those memories when I am ready.

I look at him now, chunky, happy, and healthy, and it is hard for me to even think of the tiny, skinny, opaque little one that I gave birth to 365 days ago.

Well, at least there was one thing in common with the other two...he had hair. I would have been worried if he didn't have hair.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN!!

I need to run to the store

Another good idea, brought to you courtesy of your favorite big sister. Try not to think of how she got him in there. I have come to accept that things like this are best left unexplained, it keep unnecessary anxiety attacks from creeping in. Just know that he is on a nice cushion of soft stuffed animals, so he is quite comfortable to be pushed around is a squeaky grocery cart.

Not convinced? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, and he seems pretty content to me. I could be wrong, maybe he is just smiling because he sees me? I mean, who doesn't smile when they see me? He tries hard to be patient with his big sister (and big brother) and that ain't always easy, and is almost always noisy!

Owen

I was starting to wonder if and when this day would come, or if I was destined to have child who rolled where ever he needed to go. The rolling led to frustration because he hadn't figured out how to do anything besides big circles...so he was getting nowhere...slow. I don't count rolling off the bed as a straight line. Not that he has ever rolled off the bed...and definitely not more than once.

Playing with Fire

In the wrong hands, romance can be dangerous and messy. I will be the first to say that candles have taken a back burner over the last few years. The "time" you have most often limited to when your children are sleeping, and, if you feel risky, when they are occupied with something. (I wouldn't know about that one). No time for the frivolous extras in most cases.

If you are anything like me, you have to know that your kids are asleep to truly appreciate the mood and the moment. Otherwise, you keep asking yourself: is the door locked? Did you hear that? Are you sure the door is locked? Hmm, actually, if you are me, you might ask yourself that even if you just checked on your sleeping kids. But, I digress.

Yes, candles. We all like candles. They definitely add to the romantic mood. As the waifing scent of vanilla bean fills the air, the candlelight dancing lightly through your bedroom, your cares slip away and you are ready to...well... you know.

I start to think, as I often catch myself doing during the most inopportune times, about how bright these candles seem to be. Our room seems pretty well lit for the 5 candles strategically placed to create the maximum romantic atmosphere. After an awkward angled look (don't ask), I notice that one candle has a pretty wicked flame. We are talking about a flame to dwarf all flames. Moment of romance is...gone. I spent the rest of the time stealing fervent glances to make sure our house didn't go up in flames. I really didn't want to try to explain why I was in my birthday suit while standing outside with my three kids as the firefighters put out the flames.

After all was said and "done", the blob of wax candle was blown out and the lights turned back on.

Because no evening is complete without it, we spent the next 30 minutes scraping wax out of our carpet and television stand. A romantic finale to end the night.

What I am most grateful for right now: white candles and white carpet
Good news: Found a $10 gift card under the television stand.
Bad news: Found a sewer roach.
Good news: It was dead.
NTH (Note to Husband): Use a candle holder!