Another Year Older and Wiser Too

I had a different kind of birthday this year. Bryan was out of town for the whole week before and didn't get back until a few minutes to midnight, which didn't leave time for birthday prep. I didn't have any desire to drag the kids to the store so they could birthday shop for me. I also didn't want to stay up late decorating for my own birthday. Additionally, my wonderful sleeper had her first really rough night (she didn't want to sleep, she just wanted to bounce on my lap and kiss my cheek) so I didn't climb into bed until 2am.

All this means that I woke up on my birthday and it felt like any other day. There were no gifts to open, no decorations, no birthday-specific baked goods. I had a jet-lagged husband working from home, hungry kids, a tired baby, and a tired me.

And yet, I felt content. The night before my birthday I had decided that what I wanted most of all was to spend time with my family. I made this happen on Friday by pulling a kid onto my lap every time one walked by. I snuggled and read and sang. We had a little dance party. Under Bryan's direction, the kids made cards and proudly presented them to me. It was great.

Thanks to friends and family, I did get lots of birthday texts, calls, and Facebook messages. For some reason my phone decided not to ring for most of the day, but it would deliver the messages. So if you called and I didn't answer, my phone may have been screening my calls without my permission.

And in the afternoon my visiting teacher dropped off a delicious loaf of banana bread, so I counted it as my birthday cake.

Between family time, electronic birthday greetings, and a nice family dinner out, it was a good day.

Quizmaster

You know those internet quizzes that have been so popular for the last several months? The ones that can determine in a few short questions which Disney princess you are (I'm always Belle), what career you should actually have (I got philanthropist and then professor because I took the quiz twice), or which Anne of Green Gables character you are (Anne-with-an-E, thank you very much)?

Well, I took two this week that stood out. One was titled "Which Big City Should You Live In?" I answered the questions and got the result: San Diego. Considering that my home town is in North San Diego county, the answer made me smile.

The other quiz claimed that it could guess my age. I clicked on the pictures that I liked best or that I recognized and submitted my answers. Wanna know what the quiz guessed?

It said I was 34.

Silly quiz, you were a few days early. I was 33 when I answered your questions. Today I'm turning 34.

Happy birthday to me.

Six Moons

Our sweet Sophie is six months old! We celebrated the momentous occasion by dressing her in this adorable outfit that my friend made for her. She also got to try solid food for the first time. She's a fan. The viscosity is throwing her off a little, but she'll get the hang of it.

Thanks to my brother-in-law Dallin for filming the first feeding. Sophie likes the food almost as much as she likes the spoon.



The last six months have simultaneously flown by and lasted forever. Sophie is a fun six-month-old. She's interactive and giggly and loves all of her siblings. And they all love her. She sleeps better than I do. I thought babies that slept were the stuff of tall tales, but I have one of these mythical creatures at my house. I'm certain her ability to sleep (and put herself to sleep when drowsy!) is what has kept me sane.

Sophie loves to play games. Ever since she was tiny she and Bryan have played a game where she sticks out her tongue like a lizard testing the air, then he mimics her. They take turns and are both delighted by it. Her newest game involves kisses. I hold her up to my cheek and say, "Kisses?" and she leans in and plants a slobbery baby smooch on my face. Then I pull her back and grin at her and say, "Yay!" in an exited voice. And then she giggles and smiles, which is of course why I play the game.

Sophie is still tall. She is 71% for height, and only 82% for head circumference, which means she has the smallest head of all my kids. Maybe she'll be able to find helmets that both fit and are made for her age range when she gets older?

People don't ask about her birthmark much anymore, except to tell me about someone they knew that had one that faded on its own. I assume that once we move and meet new people we'll get more comments on it. One thing that continues to garner remarks is her hair. No one expects a baby to have hair that touches her back. It's still wispy, but it sure is long in some places.

She can roll from her back to her front and from her front to her back, though she doesn't do either very often. She's usually content to play where she is and only occasionally has the need to roll.

She has a natural sweetness and calmness about her that we need in our house. She is observant and alert and is happy to be held by anyone as long as she's not hungry. When she is hungry, she nuzzles into my shoulder and neck. That's her way of saying, "I need some food."

I sure love this sweet girl.

Better Than a Little Black Dress

Phoebe, unlike her brother Cooper, has insisted on staying in her pajamas as long as possible each day. She has no problem doing a little yard work in them.

And she even dresses them up on occasion.

Who knew a princess nightgown could be so versatile?

Dress for Success

All school year long, Cooper was the toughest kid to get ready in the mornings. He would choose to read or play with Legos or wander around not doing anything in particular, all rather than get dressed. His refusal to put on daytime clothes until the last minute was a major contributing factor to the many tardies the boys received.

On Saturday morning he showed up in my room before 8am. And he was fully dressed in daytime clothes.

Yesterday he came in at 6:45 in the morning, and again, he was already dressed for the day.

He must be really excited that it's summer break. Either that, or he has pajamas and daytime clothes confused. Also, we need to teach our children the magic of sleeping in...

Teddy Bear's Picnic

Phoebe had her first dance recital this past weekend. She did a great job. Bryan's brother Dallin and his wife Melody were here visiting us and got to come to the recital, which thrilled Phoebe. Melody offered to take a picture of the family after Phoebe performed. We are a good looking bunch, I think. Also, you can see Phoebe's newest accessory: a cut on her forehead obtained a few short hours before the recital. That pesky backyard fence got in her way.

We weren't allowed to record the actual performance, but I did get the dress rehearsal. She is house left (of course I'm using theatre directions) of the bear. You'll notice that she spent a good chunk of time trying to find me in the audience. I assured her that we were there and on the night of the performance she focused and got down to the business of dancing. She also redirected one of her classmates when she got too close to Phoebe's dance space, which was pretty funny.



I asked Phoebe afterward what she thought of being on stage. She liked it, but she did have one complaint, "It was too short."

That's my girl.

School's (Almost) Out For the Summer

Today is the last day of school. Everyone else we know has been out for weeks now, but we've continued to plug along. Now it's our turn.

Last night as I was tucking him in, I told Cooper that he only had one more day of being in Kindergarten, and then he would be a first-grader. His response? "Yeah, but not right away. I still get to have summer first, right?"

Yes Cooper, you definitely get summer first.

Cooper's Informance

We finally found the movie from Cooper's Music Informance. The whole thing was sixteen minutes long, but I decided that was a little long. Here's one song that his class performed.

John Hancock

Look, she got all the letters in order! And they're even in a line!

Big Day for Little Sophie

Look who's finally big enough to sit in the shopping cart next to her older sister!

Phoebe is showing off her latest trick. She can go cross-eyed on command. She now does it so often I'm a little concerned for her eyesight. Sophie is demonstrating how delighted she is riding like a big kid.

I'm not sure which girl was more excited about this development. Sophie giggled and grinned every time I made eye contact with her. To each person that walked by, Phoebe would explain, "I have a baby sister sitting by me," and would lean over and give Sophie a hug.

It was the most adorable Costco trip I've ever been a part of.

The Weekend of Bryan

Bryan had a pretty big weekend. Not only did he celebrate Father's Day, he also had a birthday. The kids had fun picking out presents for him (all of which came from the candy aisle of the grocery store) and singing to him. They were all highly disappointed that I didn't plaster the house in streamers, though I did put a few things up. Bryan requested that I sleep instead of staying up late decorating and I obliged.

I don't think he liked what his cake said though.

This is what it looked like when I finished it.

Then Bryan got to work on it.

And it ended up looking like this.

Happy birthday and happy Father's Day Bryan!

Rhyme Time

Peter has been studying poetry at school (we still have a full week until summer break) and he's really getting into it. He came home yesterday, found the notebook with the fewest doodles in it, and announced that it was now his poetry book. He had written two poems at school and quickly copied them from memory into his new book. I love to read poetry, but I'm not great at writing it, so I'm pretty impressed with these. I've corrected his spelling, but maintained his punctuation.

My Day
The sun is shining through my window,
Time to get up you sleepy kiddo.
Time to get dressed, time to eat breakfast,
Time to go get on the bus for school.
After school I get in bed,
Time to rest your sleepy head.

Clock
The clock tells time, one by one.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.
These are the hours the clock hollers.

The People of Walmart

I discovered a surefire way to get stares from other people at Walmart. Curious?

1. Take all four of your children to Walmart. (Really, we could stop there, but I'll go on.)
2. Grab one of those gigantic carts that seats three comfortably, but could carry at least four additional children, if not more depending on how small they are and how well they can squish.
3. Place your three older children in the cart, even the ones that look way to big to be riding.
4. Give each of them a book to read. (Let's be honest, this part is more for your own sanity than anyone else's amusement.)
5. Strap your baby into a baby-wearing apparatus.
6. Push the gargantuan cart through Walmart while wearing your infant.
7. Do all of this with a slightly giddy grin while you try not to burst out laughing at all the shocked looks you're getting.
8. When people comment that you have your hands full (and they will) respond with, "Yes I do!" or perhaps, "It's always an adventure!"

There you have it, a no-fail method to garner attention, whether you want it or not.

I Finally Caught a Sophie Smile!

Today Is Your Lucky Day

A few years ago I grabbed a book off the shelf, as I am often wont to do, and started reading to the boys. A page into it I realized I had picked the wrong book. Tom Sawyer was going to provide too many ideas to my clever offspring. I put the book down and switched to something relatively innocuous.

The sun was shining yesterday so the girls and I walked to get the boys from school. Whenever we walk I see parents generously carrying their child's backpack. Since I push a seventy-five pound (including the girls) double stroller, I insist that the boys carry their own bags. When we got the boys I heard Peter trying to convince Phoebe that she wanted to carry his bag while he ran ahead. She didn't agree, so Peter was stuck with his pack.

After a stop at the park to run off some energy, we gathered our belongings and headed for home. I overhead Persistent Peter create a new game and teach it to Cooper. He said that he had flying powers and Cooper didn't, but he wanted Cooper to be able to fly too. To solve this problem, Peter gave Cooper his very own jet packs, one to wear on his back and one on his front. They were even tied together so they didn't fall off.

Any guesses what the jet packs were made of?

Peter convinced Cooper to wear his own backpack and Peter's backpack. Peter walked home unencumbered while Cooper trudged behind at a slower-than-usual pace. I tried to pull the extra bag off of Cooper, but he insisted he wanted to wear it.

Anyone have a fence that they need whitewashed? I think I know someone that can have it taken care of for you.

We Tried Pigtails Again

A New Destination

Last night Sophie and I ventured out and went to a Relief Society activity. I'm always in need of socialization, but the real draw for me was that a few of the teachers would be talking about local summer activities to do with kids. I've been trying to put together a list of sights to see and events to attend this summer, so the information was helpful.

The reason I'm creating a "bucket list" of sorts is that our time in the Pacific Northwest is drawing to a close. At the end of July (or thereabouts) we will pull up roots again and head east. Really, really far east. So far, in fact, that we're trading the Pacific Ocean for the Atlantic.

Our home for the next year will be in Northern New Jersey!

We're excited at the prospect of being so close to two of my brothers (who will be a measely four hours away in Maryland) and to be near all the history that New England holds. And, as daunting as the endeavor sounds, I'm thrilled to get to take the kids to see the Statue of Liberty and Central Park. And Broadway. I'm really excited about taking them to Broadway.

Do any of you wonderful readers have suggestions for fun stuff to do in the Portland/Vancouver area? What about Seattle? We want to plan out our time and use it well.

Also, any recommendations for places to live in Northern New Jersey? Or places not to live? Or must-haves for living in such a humid and snowy place?

An Old Friend

Cooper was cleaning his room yesterday when he came across on old sock puppet. When I went to check on his progress, he insisted on talking to me through the puppet. Then he asked if I had made it. He sounded impressed when I said I had.

I just found this picture of Cooper, taken about a month before he turned three. It looks like he's been enjoying that particular puppet friend for a long time.

Use the Right Tool For the Job

I was in the house feeding Sophie. Phoebe went out to the garage. That's when I heard:

"Mommy, can I paint the car with the shovel?"

Informance

Our local elementary school has a fantastic music program. I think it might be the best thing about the school. Last month we went to a small informational performance, or "informance" as it was titled, for Cooper's class. For some reason we can't find the movie we took, so you'll just have to believe me that it was a fun show and Cooper did a great job.

Can you find Cooper? He knew all the songs and sang out on each one.

Yesterday was Peter's informance. He and Cooper don't have the same music teacher (yes, the school has two), which means Peter's material was totally different from Cooper's. 

Peter was very excited to have us there. Bryan came from work to attend both Cooper's and Peter's.

This movie is just over three minutes long, so it might only appeal to the grandparents, but if you have the time to watch, it's pretty awesome. The kids all play the marimbas. Pay close attention to what Peter does while he's playing. I wonder if he'll be more open to playing the piano now that's he's had a taste of the marimbas.

Moments

I hear other moms talking about sweet moments with their kids; one said something funny or did something silly. I see pictures on blogs of joyous family outings, smiles captured mid-adventure. And then I look at our family. I hear the kids arguing and complaining and speaking unkindly. It's hard to catch those sweet moments amid the chaotic and contentious norm.

Last Thursday night we had Pack Meeting. I mentioned it in my post about no one sleeping. We had eaten dinner early but had still gotten out the door later than we wanted. Somehow, though, we arrived early. We parked and Peter held the door open for all of us. The lights hadn't been turned on yet so we walked down the dark hallway toward the Relief Society room.

I was walking next to Bryan, holding Sophie in my arms. Silhouetted in the light coming from an open room ahead of us, Phoebe, Peter, and Cooper led the way. And then it happened. I was flooded with an overwhelming feeling of love for these five people. It took me by surprise and I tried to etch the image and the feeling into my brain. I took in a long breath and squeezed Sophie a little tighter. And then we reached the room at the end of the hall and that golden moment was over.

We have the normal chaos and stress of regular life. But I now have a beautiful picture in my head of my children walking in front of me in a dark hallway, and the lovely feeling that comes with it.