This week

1. I took the girls to a preview of "Cinderella," put on by the Hale Center Theater youth group. They did a free performance at the library, and the girls loved it. I knew they would. We got a couple pictures with cast members after the play. (Photos from my phone, and I'm still learning how to get good pictures with it, hence the weird coloring)

2. Carter has put up with a lot lately. During swim lessons, he tried on Damon's goggles. Not a fan. But he did seem to like his second experience with the swing at the park.

3. Allie wanted to ride her bike without training wheels. I was sure she was going to fall and would throw a huge fit, refusing to ride again for months (like Damon did). She surprised us all. She rode, she fell, she didn't cry, she rode again, and she has picked it up much more easily than I thought she would.

4. One day the kids were bored. Hmm, sounds like every day we don't have something planned. This particular day they made a fort. With tunnels. It was a lot of work. And I made them take it down before dinner. But it made for a fun afternoon.

5. Carter started eating sweet potatoes this week. And Kyla insisted on feeding him.

6. I got my first food from a co-op today (Bountiful Baskets). Pretty happy with the food I got for $15.

(7 plums, small seedless watermelon, bananas, 7 ears of corn, 3 English cucumbers, grapes, green cauliflower, lettuce, 5 lb potatoes, 3 tomatoes and 7 peaches).

Carter Update

So, it's been a little over a week since I started "sleep training" with Carter, and I must admit, it's going better than expected. Here is a journal style post of how it has gone:

DAY 1-Jeff had a meeting, so I had to take all the kids to Relief Society with me. By the time we got home, Carter didn't get in bed until 9:30 (he was ready much earlier). He woke up at 5:30 and I fed him the 4 oz bottle. He cried when it was gone, but went back to sleep easily.

DAY 2-Went to bed at 8:30. Woke up at 3:00 and I gave him the binky. Woke again at 4:00 and I gave him 3 oz. Went back to sleep easily.

DAY 3-8:30 bed time. Woke at 5:30 and I gave him 2 oz. He cried for a while, but went back to sleep until around 7:30.

DAY 4-We had a family reunion in Heber, where we were sharing cabins with Jeff's family. I had planned on feeding him 4 oz during the night, just so no one would have to listen to him cry. He had a hard time going to bed, and didn't fall asleep until late (being woken up by Kyla certainly didn't help anything). To my surprise, he didn't wake up at all during the night, and I didn't feed him again until it was light (my concept of time wasn't good, but it was probably after 7:00).

DAY 5- I put him to bed at 8:10. He wasn't hungry, so I didn't feed him then. I gave him a "topper" at 10:30 before I went to bed. He woke up at 3:30 and I gave him the binky. He went back to bed and woke up at 7:30.

DAY 6-Bed between 8:30 and 9:00. Woke up at 3:30. Binky and back to sleep.

DAY 7-Bed 8:00. My friend, April, dropped by unexpectedly at 9

:30, so I woke him up so she could meet him. He went back to bed around 10:00 and slept until 7:30.

DAY 8 (last night)-Jeff watched him while I went to a baby shower. I put him to bed when I got home at 10:00. Woke at 4:30. Binky and back to sleep until 7:30.

So, it seems a pattern has emerged. It's clear he doesn't need to drin

k a bottle during the night. And my nighttime routine has become sticking a binky in his mouth between 3:00 and 4:30. I am tempted to just let him cry himself back to sleep, but there is always the worry that he will do so by sucking his thumb/fingers (I have seen him do this before). So for at least another week, I will get up and give him the binky, then reevaluate.

I love this picture. I use the pack n play as a changing table downstairs, and one day I left Carter there while I did something else. Kyla, who absolutely cannot leave him alone, found a way to be close to him. As a side note, look at Carter's thighs.

Stitches

If you had to choose one of your children to fall and split their chin open, who would you choose? The oldest, a boy, who would be less likely to be affected by a scar on his face when he was older?#2, a drama mama, who is afraid of any drops of blood, because you think it would be good for her to realize that things will turn out okay? #3, the tough one, the one who didn't cry when she lost got shots, but instead gave the nurse an evil look, because you know she is the most likely to be brave? Or the baby, who is also the least likely trip and fall, because he can't even sit up yet, so how in the world could he trip and fall?

You'd pick #3? So would I. And lucky for me (but maybe not so lucky for you, because #1 and #2 probably would have made for a better story), it was Kyla. Here's the story: we were at a family reunion up in Heber this weekend and all the kids were playing. We had been there about an hour, so they were still interested in doing things besides annoying Jeff and me. We heard Kyla crying, and Jeff went over to see what was wrong. She had fallen on a big rock and was bleeding from her chin. After we got some of the blood cleaned up, it was pretty obvious that the cut, while not real big, was pretty deep, and she'd need stitches.

One of the benefits of having so many family members in health care is that someone not only usually has a suture kit, but also the ability to stitch up anything simple. But unfortunately, no one had a suture kit, not even the camp hosts. So, Jeff loaded Kyla up and drove her to Provo, calling his oral surgeon buddy, Mike Harris, on his way down. He drove her to Dr. Harris' office, where she got 4 shots of lidocaine and 5 stitches. He said she didn't cry at all, but at one point during the sutures said, "I felt that!" A couple of hours later, they returned to the reunion, where Kyla was extremely proud of her battle wound. And since she can't seem to keep a band-aid on it, she felt it her responsibility to keep it clean by soaking it in chocolate milk.

As a side note, look at how crowded her teeth are. Not a good sign for a 3 year old. Anyone know a good orthodontist?

Eat, Drink and be Merry

Carter has the life. He basically gets whatever he wants. He is a fairly high maintenance child who is only happy when he is getting his way. And for some reason, we are all too happy to give him what he wants. It makes life easier for the rest of us. He is most content if he is riding around on my shoulders. Maybe it gives him a better view of the world, I don't know. But I do know that he will be happy for a MUCH longer time if I am carrying him than any other way.

As a result, though, I have aching shoulder muscles. But I tell myself that the best way to get the last few pounds off is to haul an extra 19 pounds around. That should do the job. I'm hoping...

I did decide it was time for him to have some rice cereal. At five months, I think it was time.

He is great at opening his mouth whenever he sees the spoon coming, probably because he likes to suck/gnaw on anything that comes near his mouth, but not so great at swallowing. But we're working on it.

I was hopeful that the rice would help him get full enough to sleep all the way through the night. But I haven't seen a difference yet. He still wakes up once during the night to eat, and usually once or twice more when I have to give him the binky. But that is all about to change. Little Mr. Rule-the-House is about to be overthrown. Up until now, I have been making excuses for him; he was a sick little guy after all. But the tiny baby who had compromised lungs is gone. And this Chubby Bubby doesn't need to be eating during the night.

For some reason, feeding has always been such a chore with Carter. He is hungry, but he nearly always cries, gags, and puts up a fight when I feed him. The only peaceful feeding he has is during the night. Which is another reason I have been easy on him. No more. My plan is to cut back how much he gets during the night (start at 4 ounces, go to 3, than 2 than 1 than nothing) during the next few nights. I also think I am going to let him cry more to get himself back to sleep. He doesn't seem to have a problem crying himself to sleep during the day, so I know he is capable. It's time to break the bad habits. And I don't think Carter is going to like it one little bit. But the three older kids were all sleeping through the night consistently by 3 months. And if you factor in the fact that he was 2 weeks early and spent 2 weeks in the hospital, he has still caught up. No more excuses. Wish me luck!

If my plans fail, maybe I'll let him sleep in the swing with a bunch of toys. Seemed to work this day!

And this picture makes me smile. It's from my phone, and not the best quality, but Kyla and Carter were "helping" me do laundry yesterday.

The Rest

The biggest part of our Fourth of July celebrations was mealtime. We had many big gatherings with lots of good food. And we kept sending the kids out on the deck to eat. Eric felt bad for them, as they were roasting in the late afternoon sun, and he built this tent for them. So nice.

A few of us "lucky ones" got to go to Stadium of Fire. I hadn't been in several years (since Martina McBride was the headliner, in fact), and didn't have any interest in forking out $50 for the event. But then they booked Carrie Underwood. And how could I say no? I couldn't. Especially when Jeff said he would stay with the kids. I didn't take any pictures, but stole a few from my cousin's Facebook account (me, my cousin Addison, and my bro, Eric, on our way!).


We agreed that on a scale of 1-10, Carrie was a 10. The rest of the show was a 5. Total score=7.5. Worth it, but not the best ever.

We also swam plenty. Both in the pool and in the tub. Girls in one tub, boys in another. Here are the girls:

And one of our lone swimming pictures. I was trying to upload a video of Kyla being tossed in the air by Grandpa Dale, but it is taking too long. Maybe later when I have more patience I will do that...along with the other things I promised in earlier posts...

Happy Fourth (on the Eleventh)!!

Letter from Damon

Damon wrote a letter (via my sister, Heather) to my brother who is on a mission in Argentina about his baptism. I had to share (thanks Heather for doing this!).

Dear Elder Jonathan:
On your birthday was my baptism. I am so happy I got baptized on your birthday. I'm going to send you a picture of me and my dad in white clothes. I felt warm inside. I got the Holy Ghost and I felt so good. And I sang a solo called When I Am Baptized. Are you doing a good job on your mission? Has anyone listened to you? Have you felt the Holy Ghost? Because those are the things I felt at my baptism. On my birthday I had a pinata, water balloons, and a yellow cake. I had a very fun time. My cousins came over to celebrate my party and my baptism. I am having a really fun time with everyone here, even though Heather is sleeping in my bed. Guess what Grandpa Dale gave me for my birthday? A geode. It is big like two grapefruits put together and it is blue inside. I love it a lot. It's supposed to mean the solid foundation so you can build a strong testimony in Jesus and not on sand, like Satan. Um. And. I hope you had a very fun time.
Love, Damon

Damon

Our fourth of July weekend started out with a quick visit from our best friends from dental school, Jenn and Joe Whitesides. We had such a good time visiting with them, and even though they didn't have their two boys, our kids made up for it with their excitement.

Things really started to get busy on the 2nd, when this handsome boy turned 8.

We have been talking about his baptism for a long time, and I honestly can't believe that day is already here. He has grown a lot since we first started taking these pics of him in his daddy's shirt. You can see his legs now. But he still has a ways to go before he can fill it out (phew!).

My family was already planning on being here for the Fourth, so we were excited to find out that Damon would be getting baptized on the third. And although he didn't get to have a party with friends (it was just too much for me, having to host all my family and plan an after baptism get together), he still had a great birthday. Here he is sampling his favorite food--sushi! Harmon's has the best.


He wanted a rainbow cake, but we were running out of time, so all he got was a yellow and green cake (yellow is his favorite color). You can see some of our chaos in the background. It was SO much fun having all my family here, but I think it will take me at least a week to get everything back together.

Saturday was a very special day. There was only one other child in the stake getting baptized, so Damon got to plan a lot of what he wanted to happen. He asked Tara to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, Heather to play the piano, Kimmy to lead the music and Noel to say the prayer. He also prepared a song to sing (which he sang wonderfully--must remember to get video).


Really, it was so special and I am so proud of him and his eagerness to do what's right. Happy birthday Damon! I love you!

Here are 8 things I love about him:

1. He is so determined. Although he often gets frustrated, he never gives up. He always wants to be the best and he's going to keep at it until he is. He must have done over a hundred flips on the trampoline before he landed on his feet.

2. He is very sensitive to the spirit. I told him once at FHE that someday he will have to pray and ask Heavenly Father if the Church is true. He told me he already has and he already knows that it is.

3. He is very responsible. He cleans his own room, makes his own bed, gets himself ready for school (including making his lunch), all with minimal reminding.

4. He has a beautiful singing voice and some great dance moves (the singing voice Jeff is okay with; the dance moves he is not.)

5. He has the best laugh. Really and truly.

6. He loves to dress up for church. And sometimes at home when the girls are in their play dresses. So we bought him a nice suit for his birthday. He looks great (must remember to take a pic)

7. He is a saver. He has saved over $50 during the past few years and when I asked what he is going to buy, he said, "I'm saving it for my mission."

8. He is a great helper. I always thought I wanted to have a girl first, to help me with the kids, but he is a great brother. He loves his sisters and Carter and looks out for them. I'm truly blessed to be his mom.