Charlie

Our sweet little one joined our household on Friday, as most of you know. I'm so happy to have him here. :) I did enjoy feeling the baby but I was very excited for that day. I got really nervous at the thought of another kid and the surgery and the whole thing. Even if we hadn't decided that our little family was complete after this one, I would have decided after that C-section. I'm not sure what it was about it, but as I laid there waiting for them to start the surgery I started getting really serious and kind of freaked out. Thank goodness Rick was there to hold my hand and he sensed how I was feeling. I held it together until it was over and then there was a little boy there to keep my attention. Thank goodness for that too! It was exciting to not know until then the baby's gender. I heard Rick say, "Bonny, I see some dark hair." Then I heard a baby crying and Rick saying, "Bon, its a boy." I was really surprised because it was perfect.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good, but I am very sore. It has been my best recovery so far, but I only just made it home from the hospital, so we'll see. Charlie has been a really great baby who only cries when he's hungry. He was 8 lbs and 21 inches. He's so skinny he just looks tiny. Anyway, enough talk. Here are some pictures.

Baby Charlie

Grandma got him to smile and I was lucky enough to capture it.

Big sister Carlyn loving her brother

Big sister Annie loving her brother while big brother doesn't want to share little brother.

Darren walked straight up to Charlie and held him like this. It made Rick emotional because it was very sweet.

We had a little trouble with his blood sugar and Daddy was giving him the bottle, which he really didn't like. Let's face it, Mommy's milk is better :)

Our cute little family!

Me and Charlie. My 4th little angel.

Funnies

I have pictures of this to come later, but in hopes of transitioning Darren to a toddler bed before baby comes, I bought a cute little Thomas the Train set at Wal-Mart last night and we put it on his toddler bed this morning. Darren's reaction was so cute, eyes wide and mouth open in disbelief. He ran to the bed and climbed on it and stayed there for awhile. Anyway, we were gone all day today so he didn't have a nap but he was excited to see his bed again. He tried to take his pillow (also Thomas) outside and anywhere else with him. I was at Enrichment night but Rick said he went to sleep really well. In the last 2 hours I have been on the computer in my bedroom. Twice I've heard a huge thump followed by Darren crying. Yup, he fell off the toddler bed! I do not laugh at my children's pain usually but it was so funny. The first time I debated about putting him back in the crib until we could put the railing on but thought that he was doing such a great job that I didn't want to confuse him. So I put him down and tucked him in. The 2nd time, he waited for me to comfort him then climbed back on, pulled the quilt up and rolled over! That's how much this boy loves Thomas! It was so cute I had to chuckle. As a side note, Rick is going out to the garage to get the railing to put it on his bed tonight.

Tonight we went to eat dinner with my mom and grandma. We went to Del Taco (Tuesday is 3/$1.00 taco night.) I sat down at a table with Darren and the girls were like glue to their grandma. My mom grabbed my grandma's order and verified she had the right one by saying, "You got 3 hard tacos, right?" Annie started getting upset saying she wanted an easy one. Then we figured out she was thinking hard/easy versus hard/soft. She wanted an "easy" taco really meaning a soft taco! Too funny. I think we have a new way of referring to them now!

A couple weeks ago Carlyn walked right up to me at eye level with my stomach and said, "Mom you're getting fat!" I chuckled and said, "Thanks honey." She corrected herself by saying, "I don't mean that you are getting fat, but the baby is making your stomach fat." Silly girl, as if that makes it a whole lot better!

This wasn't so much funny as cute, but I went to get Darren out of the crib this morning and he said, "No. Linney out." He wanted Carlyn to get him out. Too cute!

Kids! You gotta love them!

One Joy of Motherhood

There are some things I never thought about when preparing to become a parent. Being the "poop police" was one of them. Maybe your children don't have this problem, but a couple of mine do.

Have you ever had to have the following conversation?

Mom: Honey, did you poop today.

Child: No.

Mom: If you don't poop by dinner you will have to have a suppository.

Child: No. Please no. I hate them.

Mom: I know, it would be much better if you could do it on your own. But if you don't, we'll have to give you one. Why don't you go sit on the potty to see if you can go?

Child: Okay.

Or this conversation?

Child: I want Sugar Puffs for breakfast.

Mom: No, it doesn't have enough fiber for you and you need to poop.

Child: Can I have a banana then?

Mom: No, you won't poop if you do. How about some apple juice?

Child: *sigh* Okay.

This one is my favorite.

Mom is waiting patiently at a store, friend's house, church, or anywhere when she hears:

Child: Mom. I went poop!

Mom: Great job. Now wipe really well and flush.

Child: No, you've got to see it. You'll be so proud of me. I didn't even need a suppository! Look how big it is. Mom, come see my poop! (All said very loudly.)

Mom: Okay. Wow. Good job pooping. Now wipe and flush.

Child: Okay. We have to tell Daddy too, okay? Tell him how big it was.

Ah, the joys of Motherhood. :)

A Quick Happy Birthday

Rick is going to work on my computer tonight so no pictures. But I wanted to say (a day late) a quick Happy Birthday to my sweet man. I love you, Rick, and I'm glad you had a great day.

We had french toast for breakfast and he worked until after 4 when he had a massage. Thanks Massage Envy for getting some knots out of my husband's back because I can't. I frankly was a little jealous. I've feeling very sore and would love a massage, but I'll have to wait. I am glad he got one though. He requested golden rod eggs for dinner (I told him I wanted to cook but his first request was Sizzler.) He liked the movie night at home we did for his birthday last year and requested another one this year. We rented Bolt and had popcorn. Half way through we sang to him and had some rich chocolate cake. We had a great time.

The best was that while he was gone the kids made birthday cards for him. Darren wanted to get in on it too and sat at his booster seat and colored with marker on the construction paper. It was cute, he was very serious about drawing and got mad when I wrote Happy Birthday Daddy on the inside. The girls always take it seriously and made some cute cards. Annie put princess stickers on it and Rick laughed saying he never thought he'd get a princess card for his birthday. :) We gave him the cards at dinner and Darren knew just what to do with the card he made and proudly passed it to Rick. It was adorable. Then, when Rick gave the girls hugs after reading their cards Darren grunted and held out his arms. Rick said, "You want a hug too?" Darren, who says no to everything, nodded his head and said yeah. It was great. He gave Rick a big hug. I unfortunately had a sinus headache and wasn't feeling great, but I hope that Rick never questions how much any of us love him. :)

A busy week

We started our week last week with a family home evening flying kites in the park. It was a really windy day so I cajoled Rick into going. He really didn't want to but we had a lot of fun when we got there. We had cheap kites from Wal-mart and they were amazingly good flyers. Carlyn had a lot of interest in flying them but Anneliese lost interest after a few minutes. Darren played with a ball for a few minutes and played on the playground, mostly throwing wood chips, the rest of the time. Carlyn said, "Look. I'm a master at this!" She was great too. She got it really high all by herself.

Darren with his ball.
D on the slide. Probably with wood chips in his hands.

Daddy running after helping Annie get her kite up.

I know its hard to see but Carlyn is there all by herself and the kite is pretty high. She was doing it by herself. I let it go and she did the rest.

St. Patrick's Day was on a Tuesday and didn't turn out as we expected :) My mom couldn't come for our regular Tuesday visits. I had called my grandma to tell her we would eat at home and then head out. As soon as we were ready to leave my friend Denise called and said she was on her way to visit and also had some things to drop off. She had a garbage bag of barbie dolls and brat dolls. It was like Christmas at our house :) I have some extra brat doll bodies if anyone wants them. I don't like to keep the ones that don't have clothes. I never did make it to my grandma's house but we had a great visit with Denise and her two youngest kids. Carlyn must have been excited for St. Patrick's Day because she came up all in green and helped Annie wear green too. She kept asking when I was getting dressed so she could pinch me. :) I told her when I got dressed I would wear green. I made green eggs and ham for breakfast and it grossed me out and I don't think I'll do that again! I forgot what we had for lunch but we had taco salad for dinner and I figured the lettuce was green enough for me.

Annie in her green. She has on one of Carlyn's denim skirts and red tights. I did their hair all fancy too with lots of green bands in it (not in these pictures). They loved that.

Carlyn in her first outfit. The green sweater and tights are so cute, but don't match. She also decided it was too warm to wear the sweater and changed into a cute green top.

Rick wanted me to take this picture because Darren never sits still like this. I think he was watching Jungle Book, his new favorite movie.

Our ward had a Primary talent show on Saturday. I'll have to put a little clip on of Carlyn later, but I don't know how to do it from the other camera. Rick used our digital one and took several pictures of Carlyn's dance, but the lighting didn't work well so he took video of Annie's on it. This is part of Carlyn's dance class that are in our ward doing "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted. It was super cute and Carlyn was very enthusiastic. She's on the left and I'm sad I didn't get a better picture of just her. They have aprons on over their leotards and holding scarves.

Annie was in a group with the Sunbeam girls (and a cousin of one girl-she's the tall one) and they did a cute little dance. I chose this one because you can see Annie best. She's in the front right to start with the pink leotard and shoes. She's the smallest I think.

On Sunday the kids went with Aunt Belinda and Josh while Rick and I went to the Draper Temple dedication. They were so excited, even Darren, as they waved goodbye to us from Belinda's truck. Mathew came up last night too and we finished the night with a game of Cities and Nights (Settler's expansion.)

It was such a nice week weather wise. We went for a walk everyday. Yesterday was fairly cold and rainy and this morning we woke up to snow. What a change! I think it was last Thursday we were walking around the block and a neighbor lady came running out and gave us St. Patrick's Day bags of candy. She said she just missed us on St. Patrick's Day. It was so sweet and unexpected. Carlyn now wants to take her something in return. She's so thoughtful. I love it.

Conversations with children

On Sunday we were in the van after visiting Josh for his birthday. I don't remember what Rick did but Annie called him the meanest Dad in the world. Carlyn then asked him for a now and later candy. Annie said, "Me too." Rick said yes to Carlyn but told Annie, "I'm sorry. I'm the meanest Dad in the world. I can't give you candy." He then said if she would be happy and say please that he would give her one. She said no because he was the meanest Dad. I prompted her to say sorry and do what Daddy said. She shook her head and said, "I don't want to. Those candies are too hard anyway." Rick laughed and said, "Well that one just blew up in my face, didn't it." :)

The girls received some "new" barbies and brat dolls from a friend the other day including some male barbies. We didn't have any of those before. I was secretly listening to them playing. They were behind my chair and didn't think I was listening. Annie as the boy: Darling would you like to come with me? Carlyn: No. Say, "Come over here so I can kiss you." :) She's got boys pegged at 5, huh?

Carlyn wants to get her ears pierced has been trying to butter me up. She says, "Mom, you are the prettiest, most beautiful Mom ever. I just love your hair. It just always looks so pretty and I love your clothes too." I do think she's being sincere about her compliments, but I believe them more after I've gotten dressed and done my hair :)

Darren's favorite word is "no." Everything is no. For example, he will bring me his bottle and point to the fridge until I get him a bottle of milk. Then I say, "Darren do you want your bottle." "No!" is the first reply. I say, "Say yes if you want your bottle." "No!" "I'm not giving it to you if you say no. Say yes." "No!" At this point he's getting pretty anxious, but we're sick of him saying no to EVERYTHING. Finally he realizes I'm not giving him the bottle to he signs please. I tell him good job but say yes. He gives me one of his perfected dirty looks and finally he says, "ES." As soon as I give him the bottle he pouts again and says, "No. No. No," in a disapproving way to me. Meaning that I was doing something naughty.

He does say a few other things though. The other day we were at the table for a meal and Rick asked who would like to say prayer. As usual the girls both said loudly, "ME!" What threw us for a loop was Darren piping up with his, "ME!" too. We all busted up. He also did that today at the store when I was bribing them to be good with a sucker. I asked who wanted the sour apple, "ME!" was his response. I asked who wanted the tangerine and got the same response. Both times the girls claimed the sucker and I gave it to them since I figured he was the least picky. He saw me giving them to the girls though and got nervous. So I started to unwrap the 3rd one and he said, "Me!" I guess he didn't want to take his chances that it was for me.

Darn, I had several more. I'll have to try to remember them.

Skating, Sleeping, Silly Pictures

Darren rarely falls asleep anywhere except his bed and sometimes the car. I had to capture this cute picture when he fell asleep watching tv at my grandma's house. I love it!

Our neighbors let us know about a free skating night last week at the Ice Center in Murray. Darren and I watched while Rick took the girls skating. This is Carlyn and Anneliese with Olivia, our neighbor's daughter. Rick went around a couple times before he dared take the girls on the ice. Then they'd barely started when they had to leave for the Zamboni. That was Darren's favorite part of the night.

This was toward the end and if you can see Carlyn is in the middle with Brian and Will on either side. It was really great of them to help and Will especially was really sweet. Annie's feet were hurting so she was sitting down at this point. Rick was just getting some laps in but is there next to Brian.

This isn't the best picture, but Anneliese was hesitant, understandably for a 3 year old, so she was either hanging on Daddy or the wall the whole time. If you notice the bottom left corner, that's Carlyn. She didn't look like she was having the greatest time. I was chasing Darren all over the bleachers the whole time so I still got my exercise in :)

I was trying to get a picture through the glass of them and Rick asked for the camera. This is how the girls were for a good part of the time and Darren was so excited to see them because we'd been sitting there for a long time according to him.

Not the best picture, but I had to put it in to show how brave Carlyn was getting. I was so proud of her. She did fall several times but she did great. She was grinning the rest of the night and saying that she LOVES ice skating and can she take lessons. We can't right now, but I'd like to keep that enthusiasm up. She asks to go every day now. Rick did really well too and didn't fall once.

Friday night my sister's high school choir and her 4 kids, my Mom and Dad, my brother and his girlfriend all were going to the BYU Men's & Women's Chorus Concert. My sister said they ended up with extra tickets and Carlyn and I got to have a Mommy/Daughter date. She'd specifically asked for one recently and we realized it had been awhile so this was perfect. Even though it was Friday 13th and Rick and I were having an off day, we had a really great time. We even got ice cream at McDonald's afterwards and she felt so special. She told me that she loved it so much that she could just hug me for the rest of my life :) That made it worth it for me! We really loved the concert and had a great talk in the car both ways.

My parents stayed over at my Grandma's house Friday night after the concert. Saturday morning while the men moved a pool table for my Dad, my mom helped me with my house and a few things I had to do. I'm realizing that we just don't have enough room for 6 people in this little house and I'm feeling crowded. So I'm having to get creative with a few things. I'm no good at that. I did set up the toddler bed in Darren's room and that's this picture above. Saturday he was so tired that he didn't even fuss or get up. He just fell right asleep and I had to take a picture. He's taken naps on the bed but won't go to bed at night on it. I'm okay with letting him get used to it first.

While he was napping the girls were playing. I'd done a little rearranging (not done, as obvious in the picture) and they liked the change. Here is Annie folding socks. I hate that chore and I wish she could really mate them because she's always playing with them. Plus, there seem to be a ton of ones without mates. UGH. They had been to a birthday party and then played at McDonald's while my parents, Mathew, grandma and I had lunch. The kids weren't hungry but they ate half of mine :) I should have taken pictures of them after the party with their tutus and hair clips and crowns and decorated goblets. Thanks Jess they had a blast! Also, I got a lot done with my Mom's help and I feel a lot better though I've still got a lot to do.

Then they started taking pictures of everything. They took at least 20 of their play kitchen and several of each other. These were my favorites, but not the funniest. Carlyn took this of Annie.

Annie took this of Carlyn. Good pictures. Maybe they'll be photographers :)

Another thing Darren has gotten in the habit of doing is washing his hands in the bathroom sink. Yes our bathroom is that yellow! Short story: our other bathroom has rubber ducks and is so cute. When I was pregnant with Carlyn Rick painted the bathrooms (both of them) to match the ducks on the shower curtain. I love it in the other bathroom. :) Anyway, Darren is standing on a cute stool our neighbor gave us and if I can't find him, this is where he is. He turns it on, tries to get soap, and washes his hands. He usually won't stop on his own so I have to turn it off, dry his hands, and pull him out of there. It really is cute though. You can't see in this picture, but he's standing on his tippy toes. He just wants to do big kid things like the girls. See how proud he is of himself!

I Forgot

(I knew I would forget some things in that post because I can't keep that many cute things in my brain. So please forgive me if I add a few more. I'm sorry I've been doing these so much lately, but since I don't keep a journal I need to write them here so they aren't forgotten.)


Did I mention that we learned over travels and holidays while sleeping in 1 room that Anneliese talks in her sleep? Usually it is, "No. I don't want you, I want Mommy!" or something to that effect. Pretty much what she says all day long. When we were in St. George she and I shared a bed and it was, "Move over!" even though I was totally on the edge of the queen size bed. :)


She and Carlyn have gotten in the habit of playing what they call "baby in the tummy." Usually this game requires 3, so it is when friends are over. One of them puts a baby doll or stuffed animal in their shirt and they are the patient "mommy" who is about to have a baby. The other 2 are doctors/nurses. I about laugh my head off because they think the baby comes out of the tummy which is partly my fault because when Carlyn asked where my babies come out I showed her, and I have C-sections. I said, they come out of my tummy after the doctors cut it open. I was glad they didn't ask where other people's babies come out. I admit, I didn't want to go there yet. Still it is funny. I kissed Annie asleep in bed when I got home tonight from a baby shower tonight and her lovey was in her pajama top. So funny!


Carlyn is in a phase where she says, "Mom, do you know what 1 + 1 + 1 + 100 + 100 + 1,000,000 + 1,000,000 + 1,000,000 is?" and is surprised when I can answer. She doesn't realize how easy she's making them.


Rick was really mad at the kids the other night putting them to bed. I forget why now, but at the time I thought he was a little madder than necessary so I went in and let him leave to calm down. Carlyn said, "Mom how come you are being nicer than Dad?" Rick about laughed his head off saying that I'm usually the one who's upset so she was confused.

Recently Carlyn said, "Our house is called the Sharing House." I asked what that meant and she said that we are all good sharers at our house. As a Mom that has to be one of the best things you can hear your child say. I was very happy. She is getting to be a better sharer and has shared even when I expected her not to. Being a good sport playing the wii is another story.

A Few Things I Don't Want To Forget

There are a few things my kids have said or done that I want to write down because I forget so many things already.

For example: On Valentine's Day I opened the blinds to show Darren the snow and he yelled, "No. No," (for snow) and ran to find his boots. He found one and brought it to me. That reminds me of when we were in CA at the mall having lunch with Barrett and Katie. The kids were playing at the play area and Rick went over to watch. When Darren saw him he ran to the shoe shelf, grabbed his Thomas the Train shoes and took them to Rick to put them on him. He just seemed like such a big kid and it was so cute. He loves Thomas now because of those shoes which are now too small. I almost cried when I put them away.

Lately he's been so snugly. Its just cute when he'll go up to one of the girls or Rick or me and just hug us tight. He usually does it over and over. We especially love it when he pats our back.

Anneliese is changing from our cute little toddler who says her c's at t's and l's as w's. Today she said, "tute" then corrected it with "cute". She doesn't call McDonald's "nick knack Donald's" anymore. She goes to play at friends houses sometimes. Instead of drawing scribbles and saying, "look, I'm writing," she says, "look at these letters I wrote," and will have written A's I's E's T's & M's. She can spell her name out loud if she focuses. She still has a little pixie hairdo because hers works better that way, but it would be so long if I stopped cutting it. She picks her own clothes now. She still says "actuwe" for "actually" but she uses it in appropriate places. I got her saying wrong in the last post and she says, "It doesn't matter and it does matter," all the time. She still wants only Mommy most of the time and can throw horrible fits sometimes.

Carlyn amazes me all the time at how grown up she can be. She wanted to borrow Mario Party from our neighbor and she went right up to him at church and asked if she could. Thanks BTW Brian. They love it and we'll have to bring it by soon. I wouldn't have dared do that when I was 5. Its amazing watching them play it too. Annie's got all the luck. She rolls high and usually can guess things pretty well. Carlyn can read just enough of it that she'll figure things out and teach Annie. They memorize a lot of course, but she asks words and remembers them. Some of the games are too hard for them to play, but some they really rock on.

Today in the car Carlyn was thoughtful and said, "I miss President Hinckley." Annie said, "He died." Carlyn said, "I know. I still miss him. He was a sweet man and its okay to miss him." It was so cute.

Almost everyday they ask to call Aunt Belinda (Rick's sister) or Uncle Mathew (my brother) or to go to their house or invite them over. Maybe it is because they are closest or don't have their own kids yet, but they sure love their aunt and uncle. On that same note, anytime grandma, grandpa or Mathew are mentioned, Darren says, "Mama. Papa," and runs to the door looking for them. After playing at Belinda's house with their dog Nala he would say, "Nala." Then when Belinda was mentioned or he saw her he would say, "Nala," again expecting the dog to be there. Or he would woof if he didn't say Nala.

The cutest thing I don't want to forget is that Rick said to Darren one night, "You are so adorable. Can you say adorable?" Darren's response to that was, "A-dor-a-bul." We were all amazed and thought it was the cutest thing so we kept trying to get him to say it again. He would either say "dora" or "bull" which was pretty funny too. Then a few days ago he brought me Annie's slipper that has Dora the Explorer on it. I said, "Yeah, is that Dora? Say Dora." He said, "Bull." Too funny!

We still have a few months, but they are concerned about what the baby's name will be. I already did a post on how they named it Charlie. Carlyn said, "I'm named after my great grandma. Annie's named after you. Darren's named after Dad. Who will the baby be named after?" I asked who she thought it should be named after and she thought about it. She asked what Dad's Dad's name was (he passed away). I told her it was Bruce. She said it was cute and maybe the baby's name should be Bruce. I said what if it was a girl and she couldn't come up with an answer. Actually, I've been wondering the same question. I'd like to have a family name for the middle name at least. I have several options if its a boy but I'm not sure about girl names.

Some More About My Kids

I have an ultrasound update coming, but I wanted pictures so I'll get it up soon. FYI, I've posted several today.

I couldn't resist putting these pictures of the kids sleeping at their Aunt Belinda's house on here. Darren looked so big, not like a baby anymore. This was the night that we had a date night a few weeks back. The kids had fun playing wii, chasing their pets, and taking a bath in their huge tub. As I was typing this I looked over and saw Annie watching tv with a box on her head looking through the hole in the side. It was so funny I had to take a picture. Darren is often found with a box on his head, but its hard to take a clear picture of him.

This paper was Carlyn's first attempt at sounding out words to write them. She knew Carlyn and Annie, but guessed at Darren. In case you can't see it clearly it says "Dirin" in the middle.

On the outside it said, "SPRAS" for surprise. I was totally impressed. I couldn't do that at 5.

Just a cute picture of Carlyn.

And a cute picture of Annie.

Yup! That's my little guy. He always wants to get his hair done when the girls are getting theirs done. I usually put a head band in and he'll pull in off after a couple hours, but I was noticing how long his hair was and I couldn't resist. He looks so much like Carlyn did.

I know I've done mostly posts about my funny children, but their imaginations are in full bloom and I'm loving it. The other day at my grandma's house they were playing and one of them would be the doctor and the other would put the baby doll in her shirt. Then she'd call for the doctor to come take the baby out. Drama would follow about how they needed help walking and needed help with the baby. I wonder if that's how I seemed to them and that's what they remember from Darren being born. I have to write them down because I forget them. I had 2 others in my mind that I just forgot!

Darren only recently started watching videos. On the way home from CA, actually. He especially loves Thomas the train. This is him watching it in the waiting room of Carlyn's computer class. He never sits that still otherwise. Doesn't he look big?

I went to check on the girls after they were asleep one night and I found Annie like this.

Love the glasses!

Funny Kids and a Few Happenings

I'm so behind on posts with a ton of pictures to download, and I'm annoyed with my slow computer. I usually use the laptop but I don't have a way to download the pictures here so the few I have are from someone else. I haven't really felt like blogging, so forgive me for blending several into one.

Okay, so maybe I'm the only one who will think this is cute, but my kids are so funny! I put at the end of the last post about the girls playing "hospital" which totally cracked me up, but I have to tell you some of the funny things they say and the things Darren does.

Annie got a new Book of Mormon from her new Sunbeam teachers and is so proud of it. I tried to hide it so I knew where it would be on Sunday and she found it and was flipping through the pages. I heard her say to Carlyn, "This is my Book of Mormon. Mr. Church gave it to me." Knowing both her teachers and female I asked, "Who is Mr. Church?" "Dat man. At church. Dat gave me my Book of Mormon." I finally figured out that she got mister and sister mixed up and says church because she can't remember their last names. :)

I can't believe Annie is a Sunbeam (Sunbean if you ask her) already. Here is a picture of her class (minus a couple kids). Annie is the one leaning on the table in case you can't tell. She was a little nervous the first day, wanting me to sit with her for a minute, but then she was fine. She's really quiet in sharing/singing time which is totally opposite how she is at home. Maybe she'll loosen up eventually.

Every time we drive within view of the hospital Carlyn says, "Look! There's the hospital where the baby's going to be born." Every time. No matter how many times a day we pass it.

Darren has an innate sense of how to play video games. Whether we were playing darts, bowling, tennis, rock band on the wii or a video game on the PS3 he knew just what to do and would try his hardest to pick up a controller and play (not too poorly on Sonic, I might add) and if he couldn't get the right one, he'd pick up any remote he could find and do the right actions. We were laughing so hard at him playing the guitar for rock band with Daddy's help. SO CUTE! He's getting so smart too and communicating so much more with words and signs. I do have a picture of this, so I'll have to post it later. He also learned how to snort and now runs around snorting and laughing. He also figured out that he like to stand and pee in the tub (naughty and annoying, but also a little funny).

Carlyn said, "Mom, I've got to change out of these jammies. Its sweltering in here." Sweltering! Thanks Word Girl (PBS kids, if you don't know.)

Two weeks ago I felt kind of guilty for having so much "Me" time. I had 2 dr appointments, a dinner with some girls friends on Thursday night, a Mamma Mia party Friday night (which deserves a post of its own but that would involve incriminating pictures of my singing and dancing with my neighbors), and a baby shower Saturday morning. I got home and felt a little guilty when Rick whispered to me, "We really need a date, but I don't know if we can find a babysitter at this last minute." It was a Saturday late afternoon, but I agreed that we did need a date. So, he called his sister Belinda who happily watched the kids at her house. They ate, played wii, she gave them baths for Sunday in her huge tub, and the kids played with their cats and dog. They were on cloud 9. But here's the funny part: the kids were playing in the hall when Rick said that so they had no idea they were going to Auntie Bee's house. I heard Carlyn the next minute saying, "I'll be Aunt Bee. I'll make the snacks for us and you go play with Josh (Aunt Bee's boyfriend.)" Annie said, "Come on Josh, let's go play. Aunt Bee, you come when you are done with the snacks." The went on in this scenario for several minutes while Rick and I were cracking up. Thanks Bee and Josh, we really did need a date and enjoyed it very much. We had a wonderful dinner and I got to finally see "Twilight" which I liked much more than I expected after everyone's comments.

Every year a group of friends from high school gets together at Christmas time and has a party. This year we had to put it off until after Christmas and it was last Saturday. I'm glad we do it and we really need to do it more than once a year. There are two pictures because her husband wasn't home until after Jody needed to leave. We had a wonderful meal and visited at Marilee's house.

Me, looking very big and prego, next to Mesha, Jody, Sarah, and my best friend growing up, Heather

Heather swapped out with Marilee to take the picture. Marilee is due in about a month with her first baby, the others happily done having kids. We're coming up on our 15th reunion this fall. CRAZY!

Monday afternoon we got to go the Draper Temple Open House and it was great! It is so organized and kind of amazing to realize the number of volunteers it takes every day of the open house, which lasts quite a long time. The girls especially loved going inside the temple and seeing how pretty it was. I'm really glad we got to go. First we watched a little movie at a nearby chapel assigned ahead of time. Then we got on buses and they drove us to the temple. The kids thought that was pretty cool. It dropped us off at a covered walkway to the temple. Then we took the tour through the temple. The girls loved that they got their own brochures and checked each picture off as we went through. It was so cute. I could really see that Carlyn was understanding when we said there was a place for baptisms for the dead, and then the place where people got married. They loved the Celestial room too, the chandelier especially, and were excited because on Sunday they'd just learned the Plan of Salvation so they recognized Celestial from that. So cute. Darren just liked how it was so quiet and he could make so much noise when nobody else was. We tried to shush him, but a 17 month old doesn't listen too well. When you leave it takes you on a covered walk again to the chapel next door for water and cookies and a beautiful display and then out to the buses again. Did I mention I was so glad we got to go? :)

A Sigh of Relief

Okay, I know this isn't the best picture, but if you look closely you can see an outline of a baby there (the head on the left, the profile of the head and body). He/she is big enough that the doctor thinks 14 weeks could be accurate, but we'll wait until the 20 week ultrasound to say a "final" due date. Otherwise, it is June 1st for anyone who is wondering. I saw a good strong heart beat and the doctor said everything looks great. *Sigh* I've been much more paranoid this time and was very happy to hear him say it. I've been so blessed so far. I don't take it for granted. I appreciate every good appointment. I did have a couple scary ones with Carlyn, one where the doctor couldn't find the heart beat, so they sent me for an ultrasound just in case. This baby was very active and I was so happy to see it. Sometimes I think we're crazy for having 4 so close, but I know once he/she's here that I'll wonder what I ever did without him/her. I guess I wasn't quite accurate when I said we didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving. Here are my kids and a couple cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Since Darren has been sick, he's been much more sedentary and snuggly. This was him in the baby swing (which he pulled out of the closet the other day) and snuggling with Carlyn's blanket and a bottle of Pedialyte. He's also been watching more shows since he got sick. He'd watch maybe a minute before when yesterday he watched a whole hour! He loves Baby Mozart, Elmo, & Dora the most. This is the disadvantage of being the younger brother of two girls who have big imaginations. Carlyn was trying to put on his socks and shoes and Annie was cutting his hair with toy pliers.

His expression is the best, I think :) At least they weren't putting bows in his hair!

Sickies

I thought when my kids were sick last week that we would at least be on the mend by now. We have had random barfing, sore throats, fevers, stomach aches & now runny noses. Poor Annie and Darren are still sick. I took them to the Dr last Wednesday to make sure they didn't have strep, but it was negative. The way Annie's acting, I just may take her back in. She's as sick as ever. She had no voice today and cried after laying down because her sore throat was worse. And poor Darren. He started a couple days before her. He's been really clingy and whiny and not sleeping well. He ate a little better than normal today though, so I think he may be getting better. He's been sleeping horribly, partly from sore throat and partly due to the fact that he's been so hungry because he wouldn't eat anything. They say it is important to just make sure they have liquids, so that's what I've done, but it doesn't hold them over long enough. Sorry if this sounds whiny. I know lots of kids have it worse and I have had relatively healthy kids, but it is so hard to watch them suffer for more than a week and I feel like there's nothing I can do. Of course we've tried lots of tylenol, saline, & a little vicks, but none of it seems to help for too long. Luckily Carlyn had only a headache and fever for a couple days and then was good. Rick and I have a little sinus stuff going on but that's no biggie. I hope my sweet little monkeys get better again soon.

Informal Tradition

We have an awesome fake tree. We bought it many (?) years ago. I love the way it looks full and beautiful. The drawback is that each bough is separate from the trunk meaning that it is a pain to put up and take apart. After you figure out where each bough goes, you then have to "fluff" it and it scratches your arms to do it. Are you getting a mental picture yet? It is a pain. Well, I've always wanted the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving and Rick never wants to help. He used to be a big of a humbug, but he's much better now though he still hates putting up our tree.

So here's our tradition. It takes us at least 3 days to set up our Christmas tree. The 1st day we put it together and fluff as much as we can stand. The 2nd day we finish fluffing and put the lights on. Unfortunately, putting the lights on almost always causes a fight in itself. What a royal pain! Even though I checked all 4 strands we were using (really needed 5) the last one only half works this year so the bottom isn't lit. The 3rd day we put the ornaments up. While I have gotten used to this tradition and don't mind it so much as long as Rick is helping, the kids are getting older and aren't so patient for it taking 3 days to finish. We tried to put our ornaments on tonight, but Annie and Darren are still sick. Annie didn't even want to help. Darren just wanted me to hold him unless he saw a breakable ornament, which he would try to get and then throw a fit because I wouldn't let him have it :) Carlyn was having a great time and the ornaments that made it on (just a portion) are all in one small section of the tree. I think we may just leave it. I don't care too much this year. I'll have to take a picture, but with me and the little ones being sickies, I'm not exactly energetic.

The Things Kids Say

Annie to Darren: Darren no swiping. Darren no swiping. Darren NO Swiping!

Carlyn to Mommy: Mommy, I love you past death. :)

Annie to Daddy playing World of Warcraft: Look, dat's your fire horse. Oh, you dead. You dead!

Carlyn to Annie: If you keep doing that, I'm going to take it away and you will have a time-out.

Carlyn to Mommy: Mommy, you are my favorite Mommy. Today I love you the most.

Annie to Mommy: No, I want Daddy. I want Daddy! (Usually the biggest Mommy's girl until bedtime!)

Darren to Mommy: Mama, wan Mama. (After being told grandma or mama was coming to visit today. It was so cute!)

Carlyn to Darren: Darren, you are giving me a headache. (In her defense, the boy is noisy and could give anyone a headache!)

Carlyn to Mommy: I wish we had enough money to go to Disneyland everyday.

I know Annie says funny things all the time, but I can't remember them. Oh well.

The Things Kids Say

Recently we worked on a song in Primary called, "I Want to be a Missionary Now." If you don't know, the first of the song goes:
I want to be a missionary now.
I don't want to wait until I'm grown.
Well, Carlyn and I were singing it and got messed up on the 2nd verse. Then she started singing:
I want to have a baby of my own.
I don't want to wait until I'm grown.

Pause...
I busted up and tried to explain to her that 4 years old was too young to have a baby and she should wait 20 years. :) She still said she didn't want to wait, but said that if that was Heavenly Father's plan then she would wait.

Yesterday Anneliese kept falling down and came running in saying "I have blood. I have blood." So I lifted her up on my lap and looked at it. I must have touched it too because she said, "Don't touch my blood. Only I touch my blood." I don't know why, but that cracked me up! So cute.

Just so I don't leave Darren out, his latest "trick" is chucking food when he's done with it. As if he didn't make enough mess eating already. Its a good thing he's cute!

A Few Fun Things

I wanted to post about a few fun things that happened in the last week or so. My Annie Bear has been doing great at potty training! We had to do a little boot camp, but that was over 2 weeks ago and since then, she has been awesome. She only had a couple accidents in the first couple days. Her reward for potty training was a date with Mommy to Knick-knack Donald's. She loved it. She chatted up a storm and told me all her favorite things and all about herself. She's really a hoot if you can get her to open up. She even told me that she didn't want to go to a playground McD's because she only likes them a little bit. She loved the little table just for the 2 of us. She's my little girl.

The girls were playing the other day and I wasn't paying attention. I looked down and realized that they had made this bug picnic. Annie has been obsessed with bugs lately and has quite a collection of plastic ones. Look closely. They had laid out a plate with a Lego or play food for a bug or two. I hate those huge black ants. They are all over my house and look like spiders.
This was a grandma's house. The piano was the only thing to keep D happy. Carlyn pulled him up and they both climbed up next to him.
This isn't very clear, but this is them playing with with my cousin Parker. Tonight we had a street party. We've done it for 4 years now. Its a lot of fun. You can't really see the kids all playing on the grassy area, but its so fun to have them all playing after a nice dinner where everyone pitches in and brings stuff.

Our awesome neighbors. We love it here.