The Rest of July

A few events to document from July:

1. I took the 3 older kidlets to see Camp Rock at the Scera (two of my cousins were in it). Kyla was a little bored and kept asking to play my phone (I said no), but the other two were mesmerized. I still feel like Damon will end up in musical theater. We'll see...

2. Jeff and Damon went to SLC one day and came back with 2,000 lbs of rubber playground mulch to go around the trampoline. That was fun. Damon wasted no time introducing Tara's kids to the joys of burying each other in it.

3. Damon finished playing baseball. He's a good little hitter and a terrible little fielder. Cute in those baseball pants, though.

4. Jeff, Damon and Kyla went fishing one morning (Allie was too tired to get up. Obviously a teenager at 6 years old), and came home with this whopper. We estimated it weighed 8 lbs! Allie and Kyla (who looks like she has been fishing all morning) kept daring each other to touch the eyeballs. It was quite comical. And we commented that the fish was nearly the size of McKay!

Allie's playlist

About a month ago, I kept finding Allie at the computer watching music videos on YouTube. Seriously, what am I going to do with this girl? After password protecting the computer and talking to her about how I didn't like her doing that (to which she told me, " I don't care about the videos, I just want to listen to the music"), I set her up with her own Playlist. And while she doesn't have complete control over what songs she can add, she (and consequently the other kids) has really put a lot of time into compiling her playlist. Here's what she listens to:

Bad Romance (Lady Gaga)

When Will my Life Begin? (Tangled)

The Edge of Glory (Gaga)

Dynamite (Taio Cruz)
I See the Light (Tangled)

Baby (Justin Beiber)

Firework (Katy Perry)

Hit me With Your Best Shot (Pat Benatar)

Baby One More Time (Britney Spears)

Before He Cheats

Jesus Take the Wheel (Carrie Underwood)

I'll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan)

Don't Stop Believin (Journey)

Hair (Gaga)

Man in the Mirror (Michael Jackson)

Never Say Never (Beibs)

California Gurls (Katy Perry)

Black or White (MJ)
Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)

Halo/Walkin on Sunshine (Glee)

Last Friday Night (Katy Perry)

I Won't Say I'm in Love (Hercules)

Barbie Girl (Aqua)

Alone (Heart)

You're the One That I Want (Grease)

Lucky 4 You (SheDaisy)

Love Story

Picture to Burn

Our Song

Haunted

Shoulda said No (Taylor Swift)

The Circle of Life

Can't Wait to be King (Elton John)

Phantom of the Opera

Axel F

Written in the Stars (Tinie Tempah)

Viva la Vida (Coldplay)

Paparazzi (Gaga)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)

At the Beginning (Anastasia)

Poker Face (Gaga)

The Boys are Back (High School Musical 3)

Single Ladies (Beyonce)

Hot and Cold (Katy Perry)

Hot and Cold (The Chipettes)

No Air (Jordin Sparks)

The Climb (Miley Cyrus)

On the Floor (J-Lo)

Price Tag (Jessie J)

Walking in Memphis (Marc Cohn)

You Spin me Round (the Chipmunks)

True Colors (Cyndi Lauper)

Your Love is my Drug (Ke$ha)

My Life would Suck without You

Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson)

Bleeding Love (Leona Lewis)

Because of You (Kelly Clarkson)

Favorite Girl (Justin Beibs)

Fall for You (Secondhand Serenade)

Fix You (Coldplay)

Electric Chapel (Gaga)

Landslide (Dixie Chicks)

Hotel California (Eagles)

The Final Countdown (Europe)

Shake it Up (Selena Gomez)

You are the Music in Me (HSM2)

No One (Alicia Keys)

Set Fire to the Rain (Adele)

The Middle (Jimmy Eat World)

Telephone (Beyonce and Gaga)
Tonight Tonight (Hot Chelle Rae)

Born This Way (Gaga)

Watch Me (from Shake it Up)

You and I (gaga)

Once Upon a December

Phineas and Ferb theme song

A Whole New World

Almost There

A Dream is a Wish (Disney)

Blue (da ba dee) Eiffel 65

Who Says (Selena Gomez)

Party in the USA (Miley)

and a bunch of songs from Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2.

Quite the list. And my input was fairly minimal. She wanted Teenage Dream. I said absolutely not. I let her have Born this Way, but we had a lengthy discussion about how I don't agree with everything the song is about. We talked about how you should never use "I was born this way" as an excuse. Just because you think you weren't born with musical talents or math abilities doesn't mean you shouldn't succeed anyway. We also had to have a talk about how Lady Gaga is not a person we want to look up to and emulate (she does love her Gaga), but we can appreciate how catchy her songs are.

In some ways, this goes against my better judgment, letting her be involved in popular music. But I think it's better that we have open communication about what the songs are about (as much as she is able to understand) than shielding her from them all. At least this way I still have control over what it is she is listening to.

Condo Vid

You can see the condo here. The hot tub was on the second deck on the other side of the condo. I wish we had a clip of it. It basically filled the entire (small) second deck.

Also, I must mention the steam shower in the bathroom in the hall. That was heaven for me. I would turn it on to about 95 and sit and breathe in the warm air. It was so refreshing!

The kids are begging to go back. I don't even want to know how much it would have cost us if we had to pay for it. So we tell them to just be grateful we got to go once!

Stay-Cation

The week after the 24th of July, we had our annual family trip. This year, we knew we wouldn't be able to do anything too ambitious because of the two little boys.

Jeff had done a trade for a condo in Park City and we decided to stay there for 4 days and have a stay-cation instead. Unfortunately, we didn't take very many pictures (but did get a lot of video) of the trip.

We headed up Sunday after church and the kids were THRILLED to find they had a tv and bunkbeds in their room. They pretty much had a Disney free-for-all every night we were there. The other exciting feature was the gigantic hot tub on the smaller of the two wrap around decks. Seriously, we could have fit 10 adults in there with plenty of room to spare. The kids thought it was a small pool and loved taking a dip every night (up to two hours at a time). It felt especially like a pool because it had a hard time staying heated. 98 degrees was warm the first night, but the second night it was down to 93. Just not hot enough for me. But perfect for the kids and we didn't have to worry about them overheating.

Monday morning we spent in Park City at Olympic Park (where the ski jumping and aerial events were held in the 2002 Olympics). We road the Alpine slide and zip line and pretended we were at Disneyland. It was a lot of fun and the weather was absolutely beautiful! We also did some school clothes shopping at the outlets in the afternoon, which was an adventure with all of us, but we came home with quite a load. We cooked dinner when we got back to the condo and spent an enjoyable evening hot tubbing and hanging out.

Tuesday morning we got stuck in a convoy of cars leaving Park City. Several cops and cars with darkened windows drove slowly down one of the main streets, and Jeff commented that it must be the President of the United States or something. Close. It was actually Michelle Obama in town for a fundraiser and we were stuck right behind her. Eventually, we made it to SLC and Hogle Zoo. After living in Columbus and Jacksonville, which both have really nice zoos, Hogle Zoo isn't exactly impressive. It was quite smelly, and Allie's irrational, crippling fear of spiders made it hard for any of us to REALLY enjoy it. The bird show was super fun, though, and it was all worth it to see Carter's excitement when he saw the animals. Tuesday night was more of the same--dinner, "swimming," and sending the kids to their room to watch tv when we couldn't take the noise anymore.

We only had room to take one pack n play (for Carter), so McKay was sleeping in bed with Jeff and me. That lasted part of one night, and Jeff was worried about rolling over on him, so he went and slept in the kids' room (not only did they have bunkbeds, but they also had a double bed besides). The sleeping was hard. McKay had nowhere to really nap (and we were on the go a lot), and I had to hold him like a newborn while he slept. That was definitely the biggest challenge of the entire trip. Carter held up amazingly well, considering he didn't get nearly as many naps as he usually does, and was happier than he has been in a long time. I hope that means he's growing out of his extreme orneriness. That would be nice.

Wednesday, Jeff's parents came up and met us for another day in PC. We went to a fun farmer's market at the Canyons ski resort and then took a gondola to the top of the mountain, where it must have been 70-75 degrees. SO nice. We did a little hike and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and even found a patch of unmelted snow.

Proof that we were all there.

Including McKay, who enjoyed nature by snoozing in his grandma's arms.

The kids loved this moose that was there at the top.

All except Carter, that is, who wouldn't let go of his grandpa.

You can see the gondola in the background.

That night we had a yummy bbq and then--you guessed it--let the kids "swim" and watch tv. I really think they were in heaven the whole time. Jeff commented that it was a kid's dream vacation. We all really enjoyed ourselves, though, and it's been really hard getting back into our real lives here. The kids have especially felt lost without their constant tv time at night. But all good things must end sometime. And that cliche is all too true.

18 months

It seems like Carter has really gone through a burst of development lately, and is really at a fun age right now. When he's happy, which, unfortunately, isn't often enough. But let's focus on the positive here. He's a fun, adorable little boy (who hates nursery).

He has finally started talking and communicating much better. For recording purposes: he says mama, daddy, day-day (Damon), allie, bubba (his term for McKay) (no Kyla unfortunately for her), hi, bye-bye, cheese, poopoo, all done, drink, ball, yeah, uh-uh, uh-oh, shoe, night-night, bath, eyes, soft, hot, hat, teeth

He insists on feeding himself, which is always EXTREMELY messy. Most of the time, though, I let him because I just have too many other people to take care of.



He still LOVES food and will eat just about anything I serve him. He's not crazy about raw vegetables and will usually refuse those, but he is not picky about meals at all. Recently we have found that he loves cherry tomatoes. Good thing we have a plant growing in our garden with dozens of them. That might keep him entertained for a few minutes. One day he was snacking on a lemon, rind and all, and he gave me this smile when I asked for a picture.

Like Damon at this age, Carter loves balls of any type. He has spent a considerable amount of time finding a ball, climbing the stairs to the top, and dropping it over the railing below. He also loves baby dolls, so that's a good balance. He loves animals, especially dogs, and gets so excited to see them. He about lost his mind watching the monkeys at the zoo last week. It was worth enduring the smells to see him so excited.

He needs a lot of sleep (probably because he's such a whiny child). He would take two naps (two hours each) most days if I wanted. He only gets his "night-night" (frog and binky) when he's in bed, so he still doesn't really fight me about going to sleep.

In order of preference in our family, I would say he likes 1. me 2. Jeff 3. McKay 4. Damon 5. Allie and a very distant 6. Kyla. He doesn't like her to push the stroller, sit on the couch by us or interfere with his time with me in any way. He loves his bubba and is constantly kissing him and reminding himself to be "soft" with him.

He is learning to run and it's my favorite thing ever. He swings his right arm only as his little feet slap the floor. He also loves to climb on the coffee table and "jump" to the couch. One day he forgot where he was and jumped from the step stool onto the kitchen floor. Ouch. I don't think he'll do that again!

He likes books but still has a very short attention span. He recently started noticing the tv, which is more than he ever had before, but has yet to watch more than 30 seconds continuously. Except for that one time we were watching Wipeout and he was getting sad for the contestants who kept falling. His eyes were glued to the screen and we couldn't stop laughing.

He likes going for rides in the car and will only fall asleep in the car when he's really tired. He LOVES being outside and is constantly getting balls out of the garage and "jumping" on the trampoline. He also loves getting dirty, but he hates the bath/shower/swimming pool. I think it stems from a bad experience with spray sunblock (and his least favorite person, Kyla), and we had to flush his eyes with water. After that, he wouldn't go near the water of his own accord for weeks. It's starting to get better, and he even sat in the shallow end of Chris' pool by himself the last time we were there.

He's incredibly sweet and loving and I can't get enough of his hugs and kisses. I'm really just in love with him right now and wish that he were his happy, adorable self a little more often.

This picture just made me laugh.

Four Months

McKay is four months old now. Don't ask what happened to his three month post and pics. I'm quite sure I was too busy worrying about why Ashley liked Bentley so much to give it much attention. But never fear, I did get some pictures taken the day McKay turned four months old. Here's some highlights:

**He weighs 16 lbs 7 oz (75th percentile) and is 26 inches long (85th).

**He still doesn't look very chubby, and definitely doesn't look like my other babies. I still get "Esplin" from people who know my family. Jeff thinks it's the nose. Poor kid if that's true, because I have never liked my ski slope nose.



**He is doing all the typical things a baby of this age does: grabbing things and sucking on them, rolling from tummy to back, laughing, looking adorable in the Bumbo, and putting up with SOME tummy time every day.

Not a lot, but still will tolerate some.

He has also really become a thumb sucker. He'll take the binky when he's tired and I'm soothing him to sleep, but if he's by himself, thumb will suffice.

This is what tummy time turned into one time. This is extremely rare that he'll fall asleep on the floor (most of the time I have to wrap him tight and rock him until he starts to give in and then he'll fall asleep in his bed).

**I am almost done nursing him. This makes me sad, but it was just a nightmare. I was getting mastitis every couple of days, and he was always crying and fighting me. He's so much happier (and so am I) now that we just do a morning and night nursing session and bottles the rest of the time.

**He is still constantly mauled by Kyla and Carter. I would have thought that the novelty would have worn off by now, but not at all.

**He started sleeping really well at night. I attribute it to the thumb sucking. I put him to bed around 10 and he'll sleep until 6:30 or so. Last night I heard him at 3:00, but I didn't go to him, and he went back to sleep until 7:00. I'm so happy about this development and I have since moved back into "Jeff's room." I like to go in his room and put him in bed with me when he wakes at 6:30 or 7:00 and nurse him and snuggle him.

**He's doing alright sleeping during the day, too. Usually he will take at least one good nap in his bed (2 hours or so) and sometimes more. I try to stick with the Healthy Sleep Habits routine of beginning to soothe around 1.5-2 hours after waking and let him put himself to sleep. It is not always successful, but he's getting better.

**He's also a happier baby and less high maintenance. He still would rather be held (doesn't LOVE the Bumbo or the exersaucer or the stroller), but sometimes he's got to learn to tolerate.

Friends

During July, we got to visit with some of our favorite people. And they all came to visit us. First, my BFF April and her family stopped by at the same time Jeff's brother, Russ, and Julie and their family were here. We were all in Jax together for a year, so it was so fun to be reunited again. I'm so happy for April and her baby girl, Eliza, after her three cute boys. Julie also had a girl after three boys (and then another boy). Sheesh, we sure have a lot of kids between us!

Damon was a little shy around April's boys. I'm not sure why. I guess it's just not as easy to pick up where you left off when you are 9. We will have to do more with them in the years to come. :)

Kyla, of course, loved them all. She would gladly marry any of them. I hope she will.

Then a few weeks later, our BFF from dental school, the Whitesides, were in town and we met up with them at Thanksgiving Point. That was a fun day, too. When we left Ohio, we just had two kids (Damon and Allie). Now between us, we have 8. Awesome. And I must admit, seeing all these people I love so much made me a little homesick. And not for any particular home, but homesick for my great friends and family that I don't get to see enough of. Love you all!

I had to throw in this pic of the kids. I just can't get enough of KyKy.

Family Reunion

Over the 4th of July, we had a family reunion here in Orem. It was a fun-filled few days, where we taught classes in planking...

This was my mom's version of an upright plank. This is what Kimmy calls her "version of creeping."

Counter plank!

We filled the pool to capacity (and beyond). Carter hated the water and wanted nothing to do with it. McKay thought it was delightful at 90 degrees. He also quite enjoyed being held by Grandpa Dale.

We sent the kids downstairs to watch a movie so we could get our pool volleyball on. That's always a highlight.


Kalia, Allie and Halle were a little sleepy from all the swimming and they took a nap on each other.

The whole crew at the park. One take with the 10 second timer. I'm pretty awesome that way.

Love from Grandma


We also enjoyed many firework shows. I say "we," but I really mean "most of us." Carter would make this face when he watched fireworks. Not terrified, but not quite a fan.

Damon's nine

My fourth attempt at posting about Damon's birthday. I guess I will have to upload the photos one at a time. How old fashioned. And also proof that our "high speed" internet connection is pretty lame.

Damon turned nine on July 2nd. Wow, that makes me feel so old! Because we celebrate the 4th here with all my family, Damon's birthday always turns into a family affair. He did invite some of his friends from the neighborhood to come and have a water party with us. I think the kids all had a lot of fun.We did a slip n slide, a baby pool, water balloons and jumping on the wet trampoline.

And of course, Damon had to have a pinata. It wouldn't be his birthday without one. I think next year I will commission him to make his own out of paper mache. He was responsible for filling it, and before I knew it, the two bags of goodies I had bought were stuffed inside, making it extremely heavy. It broke from the puny top and Jeff and Wayne had to jimmy-rig it back up again for some more bashing.

After it was demolished, the points made good hats for Damon, Malakai and Maddux.

He had no opinion whatsoever about what kind of cake he wanted, so I went simple with a baseball.

McKay was happy to sit in the shade with his Grandpa Dale. No cake for him.

The party was the beginning of our super fun McKnight family reunion, and what a way to kick off the holiday weekend! MUCH more to come about that soon.

But here are 9 things you might not know about Damon:
1. He took all the money he got for his birthday (and some that he had saved previously) and did the one thing he has been wanting to do for months; he opened a bank account.
2. He eats as much as I do, if we are having pizza or quesadillas or grilled cheese sandwiches (sometimes more).
3. He would still be happy to watch "baby shows" like the Backyardigans if there's nothing else on. With a little prodding from his daddy, he has graduated to other shows, and started watching Avatar: Last Airbender and Phineas and Ferb.
4. He is incredibly reluctant to do anything outside of his comfort zone. It's a constant battle to get him to try new things (even as simple as calling a friend).
5. He is terribly afraid of running out of gas. Don't mention that we're getting low to him, or he'll hound you for hours about when you're going to fill up the tank so we don't run out!
6. He can't tuck in a dress shirt and not wear a tie. We were going to a court of honor last night and I told him he didn't need a tie, but he couldn't do it. It was "too weird." He did want to wear flip flops though. Double standard much?
7. He has been playing the piano for almost a year and is pretty good at playing by ear. Actually reading the notes is a little harder and he usually throws a mini fit about not being able to do it. Then he practices a few times and stops complaining. And the song is usually memorized.
8. He has a great short term memory and is not very good at all at transferring information into his long term memory. He passed off all his multiplication facts at school and then promptly forgot them all. He is now in the process of learning them all again before school starts in August.
9. He is the energy in our house. If he is calm and quiet, everyone else follows his lead. But if he is hyper and crazy, everyone else is hyper and crazy. And that makes Jeff and me crazy too!

Damon is a very good kid. I love him very much. He is also very exasperating. Probably just about right for your firstborn.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

Last Thursday, we were getting ready to leave for St. George when Kyla came and told me that she had been bitten by a mosquito. Clearly, I could see one bite on her arm. I could also see one on her cheek. No big deal. We left on our trip, stopping in Cedar City on the way for a little Summer Games basketball. After our game, I noticed it was looking a little worse. She had obviously been scratching at it, and her face was starting to swell. I gave her a little Benadryl and took a picture, because I was sure it would be looking much better by the time we got to St. George.

Not so much. It got worse. By Friday morning, her eye was swollen shut. We were beginning to think we needed to take her to Instacare to get checked out. But luckily, I have a NP on speed dial (my BIL) and I kept sending him pictures asking for his advice. He thought she looked okay (considering) and to just keep giving her Benadryl and ice.

Jeff reminded me that while he was on his mission, he got stung by wasps on his temple and swelled up just like Kyla. A shot of epinephrine did nothing to help and the doctor on the mish determined that Jeff just reacts severely to insect bites/stings. I dug through his mission pictures and found one. Here he is, the homeless bum.


We were fairly convinced that Kyla has inherited some of the same reactions. I did laugh when I saw this picture Jeff took of her with the boxing gloves.

By Sunday, she finally looked better. The swelling was almost completely gone. And I was no longer embarrassed to take her out in public. What a weird thing.

In other news...

The Summer Games was a lot of fun. We actually had to win a game this year to get a bronze medal and we just had enough left on Saturday afternoon to do just that. Here is a pic of our team (I really wish Heather had felt good enough to play with us. As it was, she was our best cheerleader and baby watcher).

I love this pic of my family. It's seriously one of my favorite ever. From Damon showing the ball so perfectly, to Kyla's funny pose, to Allie showing cleavage, to McKay trying so hard to suck his thumb, to Carter drinking out of some random Arctic Circle cup he found on the bleachers...I love these crazies so much.

Health

Wow, what a couple of weeks it has been. Phew. Catch a breath. Let's back up to Memorial Day...

I was feeling like I was getting another UTI and by Memorial Day it had gotten pretty bad. Where I didn't want to go to the bathroom at all because it felt like a hot torch was being lit inside me. So, Tuesday morning I called my doctor's office and went in for a rapid UTI test. The kids were excited to get out of the house and get a dum dum. The test showed there was bacteria so I started on Macrobid for a week. It got a lot better, but never went away.

I started to feel like I was getting mastitis as well, but it went away quickly and didn't cause too much trouble. We had McKay's blessing and life went on.

But the UTI, which had never really gone away, started to get worse again. I tried to call my doctor's office at 2:30 on a Thursday and they were already closed for the weekend. I figured that was a sign that I needed to wait the weekend out and call on Monday. And THEN I got mastitis again. By Saturday, I was feeling miserable. Not only did I have red spots on both sides, they were both extremely painful and I started getting a fever, the chills and body aches. So I took some ibuprofen and tried to sleep it off. Luckily it was the weekend and Jeff took the older kids swimming. Sunday i was feeling a little better, but went home after sacrament meeting because I just wasn't right.

Monday morning I called my now-open-doctor's office and talked to the nurse about what was going on. She called in a prescription of Augmentin for me to take care of both the mastitis and the UTI. Before I picked up the meds, I noticed blood in my urine and that freaked me out a little. But I read that that is common with UTI's and tried not to worry about it. I wasn't in a ton of pain, but was really frustrated that I couldn't seem to get my body back to normal. I started the meds Monday night. Tuesday morning I went in to use the bathroom and had a terrible burning, while feeling like the urine was trapped and couldn't get out. Then something popped out and the pain was relieved. I looked down to find something in the toilet, which I fished out. It was the size of a raisin, and the only thing I thought it could possibly be was a kidney stone. So I googled some images and found that mine looked just like the pics I saw online. I called my doctor's office to make sure they agreed with me (which they did) and finally things started to make sense. Like that time when I was pregnant and ended up in Instacare with terrible back aches and was treated for a UTI (but no bacteria was ever found in my urine). It HAD to have been related to this monster kidney stone that really wasn't all that terrible to pass. And the UTI that wouldn't clear up also made sense, along with the blood in the urine. I'm hoping that's the end to that chapter of my life.

And while I'm grateful to have had antibiotics through all this (the nurse said the last thing I would want is an infection AND a kidney stone), Augmentin is nasty and I hope I never have to take it again. Not only did I have stomach cramps and diarrhea, I think it also affected little McKay, as he seemed more sad than usual when I was on it. PLUS, I got a yeast infection from the dang stuff (common, I guess) and am just now starting to feel better. SHEESH!

Why did I think this was a good idea?

Yesterday, I needed to pick up some books from the library, and I knew the kids needed a few new books to read as well, so I decided to take all of them for a quick trip. It was around 4:45 pm and Carter had just woken up from his nap, so I knew he wouldn't be too grouchy. McKay had recently eaten, and was acting fine, so I took the "now or never" approach and loaded everyone into the car.

At the library, I put Carter and McKay in the double stroller, strapping McKay in. He immediately started crying, but stopped once we started moving. Into the library we strolled, picking up the books I had on hold (couplet) and proceeded into the children's section, where the oldest three kids dispersed. This is where things began to get chaotic. Damon went searching for some Guardians of Gahoole books while Allie headed toward the fairy chapter books and Kyla went for the movies. McKay started crying again, and it wasn't just a little whimper. It was a full on tantrum (as much as a three-month old can throw a tantrum). I tried to push the stroller between the aisles, hoping the momentum would soothe McKay, but he just cried harder.

By now, Carter had escaped the stroller and was standing on a stool (his favorite) at the drinking fountain, shoeless, trying to soak himself. Kyla was now looking for some books of her own, and loading me down with every title she pulled off the shelves. I was trying to pick a few I thought she might actually like, asking Damon to keep his eye on Carter while I tried to speed up the book choosing process.

At this point, a woman in her late 40's (I would estimate) approached me. Pointing to the stroller, where McKay was screaming, she asked, "is that your baby?" When I told her that it was, she looked at me in disbelief and huffed. Her unspoken words communicated, "why can't you do something about him?" She then asked, condescendingly, "can I help you with something? It sounds like someone is killing your baby." I tried to explain that I was hurrying the kids along, trying to get out of there, and no, I most certainly didn't need any help from her. I grabbed Carter, called for Damon, Allie and Kyla to come NOW and we left. Damon pushed the stroller with the boys around in circles while I checked out the mountain of books we had accumulated, and I stewed. I mean, really, I was doing the best that I could.

I am sure the woman's version of the story would be somewhat different from mine. I can imagine her telling her friends about the lady with all the kids who came into the library, disrupting what should have been a quiet, peaceful environment (in the kid's section). "Her girls looked like they hadn't had their hair combed in days," she would say, "and the little boy wasn't even wearing shoes. And then she completely ignored her screaming baby, who must be neglected all the time at home to hear him cry. In my compassion, I sweetly asked if there was something I could do to help. But no. She shot me a snotty look, gathered her raggedy kids and left. It's probably best that people like that don't leave the house."

Well, by now I was in agreement with that assessment. I shouldn't have left the house. But we still had one stop to make. My raggedy children and their friends had gone through an obscene amount of milk, blowing bubbles with straws to make "milk shakes," and we were down to about 1/4 of a gallon of whole milk (Carter's milk). So, against my better judgment, we pulled into Smith's. McKay had calmed down by now and was looking around, pretending he was a happy baby. I put his car seat in the front of a shopping cart, and stuck Kyla and Carter in the back (I can't remember whether or not Carter had shoes on at this point. It's kind of a blur). We went in for milk and ended up getting some ketchup and corn on the cob as well, because who gets just one thing at the grocery store, even if it is dinner time and you have five kids with you?

As we were walking down the aisle to check out, Allie accidentally stepped right into a large cardboard display containing Green Lantern toys. Of course it fell over, spilling the packages of toys everywhere. Instantly, she started to cry. I know she was humiliated. An employee happened to be standing right there, and tried to assure her that it was no big deal and that it happens all the time. Through her tears, she and Damon helped clean up the toys and we sprinted the self-checkout before we did any more damage. McKay was getting antsy again, and Damon wanted to learn how to scan items himself. I may have let him do one or two (we were getting 5 gallons of milk. I sure wasn't planning on going back to the grocery store anytime soon), but mostly I hustled through the process, trying to get the heck out of there.

Jeff had called to see where we were just as everyone was cleaning up the Green Lantern display, and he said, "what were you thinking taking all five kids with you to the library and the grocery store?" Good question. It definitely wasn't a mistake I will make again any time soon.

10 Things I'm Not Into

Things I just can't seem to get into:

1. Interior Decorating. I have no talents in this area and even fewer opinions about what I want. Jeff told me he is a better decorator than me. Sad, but true.

2. Yard work. My MIL gave me a potted plant (beautiful flowers) for Mother's Day and now that it is, inevitably, dying because I don't remember to water it, it has become a nuisance more than anything else. I mean, what if the MIL pops by one day to check on it and sees what it has become? Quickly, someone get the hose and water the living daylights out of the beauty (it actually looks a little better since I assigned the kids to watch out for it).

But I don't care for real live plants that require maintenance. I prefer the ones that are surrounded by our sprinkler system that provide beauty for me with no work. Same goes for my garden. It's a plant-forget about-return in a few months to see what's grown kind of thing.

3. The Biggest Loser. Sorry friends who love the show. I have tried, and I just can't seem to get into it.

4. Washing mirrors. I must have missed out on the pre-mortal class about how to get your mirrors clean without streaks, because I just can't seem to get it right. Some of you know how to do it. I know, I've been to your homes. But, I swear, every time I go into a bathroom, there are handprints on every mirror. So it seems kind of pointless getting them perfect. (I do, however, wipe the handprints off).

5. Running. The very thought of "going for a run" makes me want to throw up in my mouth. I have always needed some type of ball to make running enjoyable.

6. Crafting. This includes sewing/needlepoint/creating things from flowers, etc. I do scrapbook, but my pages are more the "get 'er done" variety with little imagination. I am amazed with what people are capable of. And I try little projects here and there, so my sewing machine doesn't feel so neglected. But it's just better if I acknowledge that I was not blessed with the crafting gene.

7. Putting away laundry. I don't mind doing the laundry. I don't even mind folding it, when it comes out warm and smelling good (and it often takes me at least an hour to fold). But I dread putting it away. Why? It only takes a fraction of the time it took me to fold it, and it isn't as though it's very difficult, but I just don't like doing it.

8. Talking to people. Even when they are perfectly nice and I know them fairly well, I just simply don't like calling people on the phone or approaching them in person to talk (especially when I have to ask them for something). I really wish this wasn't so hard for me, because I genuinely like people. I just need them to approach me first.

9. Crying babies. And crying one-year-olds. And crying 6-year-olds. You get the picture.

10. Twitter. I love Facebook. I love connecting with people I don't have to talk to in person. But Twitter I just don't get. It seems like a colossal waste of time following the lives of celebrities (because that's the only benefit it has over Facebook--following famous people). Even when those celebrities include Jimmer Fredette (although I will follow his Tweets on draft day. So maybe I'm a hypocrite.)

McKay's blessing

We blessed McKay on Sunday at our house. And when I say "we," I mean Jeff blessed him and I ran around like a crazy woman trying to make sure everything was just right. Isn't that how it usually goes?

A few pics from the day as well as a few comments:

I let Carter hold McKay for the first time on Sunday. He thought that was the best thing in the world. And he promptly kissed him repeatedly. Carter loves kissing. McKay doesn't look so sure.


What the blessing looked like to all those who got to watch from heaven. And from the balcony where my sister took this shot.


The obligatory shot of baby and baby mama outside the front door. McKay wore the same outfit Carter wore last year and looked every bit as much as a circus ring leader as Carter did. Sorry there isn't a better pic. You had to be here, I guess (and plenty of you were--we had close to 50 people here).


Tara's girl, Jayda, is two months older than Carter and constantly picks on him. Mostly because she knows she can and Carter isn't going to use his weight advantage to level her, but instead runs crying to mommy like a little girl. They do like kissing, though.


Finally, here's our family on the big day. I just love this pic so much. From Kyla's bandaged foot (she had a sliver removed by Grandpa Dale and the band-aid was holding a slice of onion in place to draw out anything left behind. So of course she needed an ACE bandage wrapped around her whole foot to keep everything tight. Heaven forbid she do something like put on shoes and/or socks.) to Allie practically dropping McKay as she smiles heavenward, I love it all. i love this crazy bunch, especially that crazy man crossing his eyes as I try to plant one on him.


It really was a beautiful day (weather-wise and family-wise) and all the craziness was worth it several times over to share it with our loved ones.