McKay 1.5

Eighteen months old. You know what that means: nursery! McKay has gone once and did just fine. It probably helps that Carter is in there with him. But I am really looking forward to church now. Especially once we switch to 9:00 in January. We might actually become active again, haha.

McKay is such a fun little boy. He absolutely knows what he wants ("no" is one of his favorite words), and absolutely LOVES his brothers and sisters (especially Allie. He's always asking for her).

Some things I want to remember about McKay at this age:

1. He is a fairly good communicator. He says a lot more words at this age than either Damon or Carter did, and puts a few together into short sentences, including "Carter mean"

2. He loves girl toys. He is constantly wandering around the house with a couple of Barbies in this hands, so I was sent to Toys R Us to get some "boy toys." He likes the action figures, too, but still would prefer the Barbies. 

3. He wants to do everything that Carter does, including sitting at the table with us (instead of in his high chair) and feeding himself. That is a huge stinking mess, but sometimes I give in and let him have a little independence.

4. Everything he does is hilarious. At least to the other kids. He makes faces, puts on hats and glasses, sings "ever ever ever ever," and cracks everyone up. Ah, to be the youngest.

5. He's into EVERYTHING. He washes his hair in the toilet, constantly pulls all the cups out of the drawer, pulls all the towels off the racks, pulls clothes out of the drawer...he finds anything that can make a mess.

6. He is a happy boy. He is so delighted with life and gives me great smiles. He also is a lover. He hugs strangers, as well as people he loves. 

7. He is one year behind Carter as far as clothes go, so he's just going into 2T stuff. It makes it very easy to transfer clothes, without having to store anything. Somehow, though, he seems not to have any shoes. I guess Carter was a little hard on them, or they are lost in the black hole that takes everything.

8. He LOVES to eat and still will eat just about anything I give him. This is so nice, and I am dreading the day he (and Carter too) become picky. 

9. Mostly, he is good to go with the flow of the family. He's not too demanding, and is always sad when he is excluded from activities with the other kids. He is really coming into a fun age where he understands so much (even if he can't communicate it all). 

McKay is a great addition to our family. Carter loves having someone always by his side, and I love watching the relationship develop between our two littlest boys. Here's to many more years of BFF!

September Funnies

(You can clearly see that school has started, and that I am surrounded mostly by the little kids, as they are heavily featured this month).

Kyla was wearing a skirt with shorts underneath (also known as a skort), and when she discovered this, she exclaimed, "Hey! It's actually a squirt!"

Carter has been unknowingly donating his clothes to McKay for the last year and a half, but is starting to catch on. I was putting some of Carter's old shoes on McKay, and when Carter started crying, I told him they were too small and they would be McKay's now. Carter said, "It's not fair what he gets." Haha, so it begins.

McKay was wearing a pair of footsie jammies that had a hole in the toe. Kyla noticed it and said, "His thumb toe is showing!"

We were at pack meeting and it was determined that the adults would decide whether or not the kids were well behaved. Carter looked at me and asked, "Where's the dolts?"

Kyla was standing next to the oven, which was quite warm, and said, "I'm so hot, babies are about to start bursting out!" (This one still perplexes me. And then makes me laugh)

We were in the car and it became apparent that someone had ripped one, when Damon asked who it was. Kyla answered automatically, "Damon, you smelt it, you dealt it."

I was putting a bib on McKay one afternoon at lunchtime when Carter told me, "I don't need a big."

After a soccer game, we were all hungry, and I asked the kids, "What should we have for dinner?"  McKay raised his hand and said, "ME!"

Carter told me one morning, after some cartoons, "Odie's on my team. Garfield too."

Kyla was tattling on one of her siblings and said, "They said the E word. Idiot."

Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church, Carter was wiping his face with a baby wipe. Allie came and told me, "I want to take this purse to church." And Carter chimed in, "I want to take this wipe to church."

Therapy Complete

Allie had her last session of Play Therapy two weeks ago. She has been doing so much better with her anxiety, that her counselor and I both thought she would be okay without any more sessions. She did have one night where she started to get out of control (that hasn't happened in months), but once she decided she was ready to listen to me, it wasn't hard to get her calmed down again. 

A couple of things we'll need to remember: she isn't supposed to watch anything scary (movies, the news, etc), as those tend to lead her imagination on a dangerous path (her panic attack she had was after watching a movie with a panther in it); she also isn't supposed to look at magazines designed for women. She has shown that she takes everything in, without knowing how to process things, and nothing good can come of her looking at those magazines. 

Also, we have to reinforce the fact that she isn't "cured." I know that, obviously, having dealt with my own anxiety in the past. You're never cured, you just understand how to manage and deal with it better. Allie sometimes hides that fact that something scares her, probably because she thinks she shouldn't be scared anymore, because she is finished with therapy. But we have let her know that it's OKAY and NORMAL to be scared. Now she just knows better how she's going to handle it. 

For her last session, she got to go get ice cream, and she picked this tub of mint chocolate chip. She wanted to eat it all herself, but that's a lot of ice cream. And she's a sweet girl, so she shared some with her siblings (and gave the rest to Damon when he offered her a dollar).

She is in the play room there, where she loved spending time. Play therapy is fascinating to me. I would love to learn more about it and actually watch it in action. It blows my mind that children can deal with difficult issues (far more serious than Allie's) and heal through play. Fascinating!

Here she is with her counselor, Kate. We are very grateful for her expertise and love in guiding Allie through these rough months. And I'll keep her number close in case we need it again...

PT

"Life is busy," said every mom everywhere. Well, it is. In addition to three soccer players, we also have three kids in tumbling. Which means that I often have to think of creative ways to have dinner ready (or packed to take with us) two or three times a week. 

Besides soccer and tumbling, we have been doing other things as well. Damon is still doing piano (and will until he gets into high school if I have any say in the matter. I wholeheartedly ascribe to the theory that music lessons aren't optional. They are a part of your education. I am under no illusion that my children will be concert musicians, but I am determined that they are at least able to read music). He hardly ever complains about it, but he has one serious flaw. He would rather play by ear than actually read the music. And so, often, he tells me he doesn't know the notes, especially if he has to change position in the song. But he's progressing. And that's really all that matters to me. I loved when I found Carter listening in one night.

The main thing that has been happening around here is potty-training (I mentioned that a while back). If you ask me, which no one did, I would tell you that potty-training is probably my least favorite thing about being a mom. It is stressful, and brings out the worst in both the potty trainee and the potty trainer. I would recommend avoiding it for as long as possible. 

Still, though, you come to my blog for tips on raising children, so I will give you my potty training tips. 

1. Wait until the child is ready to do it by them self.

That's pretty much it. Even then, it's still a lengthy process that you would rather not participate in, but you have no choice. Kindergartners need to be able to wear underwear, not diapers, to school. So we're forced into it. 

Damon was easy to potty train (we waited until he was three to even try, as he had a fear of....well, everything. But toilets were high on the list). Allie was probably the hardest to potty train. And it wasn't that I tried to potty train her too soon (I don't think), because she was going on her own, but she just had the tiniest bladder (still does) and little bladder control. So, needless to say, she had a lot of accidents. Kyla wasn't too bad. Easier than Allie, but harder than Damon. But no one matches Carter.

I fully expected to wait until Carter turned three to even attempt anything. But this little independent soul had other plans.

He had been "practicing" going on the potty for a couple of months. Basically, I would ask if he wanted to sit on the toilet, he'd say yes, sit there for a couple seconds without doing anything, and then claim he was done. Then I'd put a diaper back on him. Really, I felt like it was just good exposure to the toilet (good potty experiences) and didn't push anything. 

After a while, he started initiating it. He would take his diaper off and go sit on the potty (straddle style, the way I showed him) and started actually going. Of course we had big celebrations (he got to blow out a candle--by far the most motivating thing I have found in potty-training), and it snowballed from there. He started going again and again, all on his own.

After three days of staying dry all day, and taking off his diaper to do his peeps and poops on the potty, I broke down and bought him undies. And it has been (mostly) smooth sailing ever since. Unfortunately for all of us, he got diarrhea a couple days into his underwear, and had a rough couple of days. But after we got through that, he has had VERY few accidents in his undies. He even stays dry most nights (although he likes to wear a Mickey Mouse diaper to bed under his undies, and since I'd rather not have to deal with wet sheets in the middle of the night--even though that's only happened twice--I let him). Seriously, it's been the best potty training experience I could imagine.

That's not to say we haven't had to clean up plenty of poop. There were times the poop made it on the toilet seat, but not quite in the bowl. Or when the poop made it on the floor next to the toilet. And a couple of times the poop made it on the carpet. Delightful. But never again in his undies. Don't you just love little bums in underwear? I do. His buns look even cuter in the boxer briefs, but of course he doesn't ever choose those. 

Independent little boy that he is, he wants to wear his swimsuit every day. EVERY. DAY. And he has gotten particular about cutting out the tags in all his clothes. He even went so far as to insist that McKay wear his swimsuit and that I cut the tags out. I politely declined, as McKay doesn't mind leaving the tags in.

He also loves Thomas the train (see his hand). He asked me, "Can I take a bath with Thomas?" I laughed, told him yes, and then told myself, "I hope that I never hear him ask me that when he's a teenager."

Music Vid

Summer is my favorite season. I love the sun, I love swimming, I love days that stretch out for hours. But I must admit, having all five kids home ALL DAY LONG was hard. And this was probably the first year that summer wasn't really all that fun for me.

Because of my two surgeries, I couldn't go in the water much at all, so we didn't get to swim as much as we would have liked. McKay is a crazy man around water, and I have to pull him out at least 5 times every time we go, so I couldn't just sit on the side and watch the kids play either. And while we had activities that took up some of our time, there were a lot of days (afternoons in particular, when the boys were sleeping) that we were all home.

I tried to enforce an hour of reading/math/other mind-expanding activity every afternoon, but we weren't always successful in accomplishing that. Instead, we were very good at making lots of messes. I felt like I was following Carter around and cleaning up his messes, while four more were being made all around me. Every single day I thought I might lose my mind, and wondered if my house would ever STAY clean again. It really got on my nerves.

I felt like I was swimming upstream, but making very little headway. And poor Jeff got the worst of it one day when he told me that we needed to make more salsa because our garden was overflowing. But, see, I couldn't even keep up with everything else that needed to be done, and I just couldn't possibly even THINK about the mounds of tomatoes and peppers that were accumulating on the counter. And I snapped at him, which he didn't deserve, quickly venting all my frustrations with the never-ending summer that seemed so far beyond me. Sweet husband that he is, he made the salsa himself (and if you know how much time Jeff spends in the kitchen, you'll know that is a BIG deal).

Now that we are back in the fall routine, things have settled down. I have three hours in the afternoon when the older kids are in school and the little boys are confined to their rooms to relax, decompress and do some things that I want to do. Isn't that amazing? I sure think so. Hopefully next summer will be better. McKay will be older and hopefully easier to watch at the pool. And I won't be having any surgeries (heaven help us), so that I'll be able to take the kids swimming a lot more. That's the plan anyway.

Lest you think all our days were bad, that is not the case. We did have a lot of fun, too. We were inspired during the Olympics to make our own music video to "Call Me Maybe." Not profesh by any means, but I'm glad we have this to remember this crazy time of our lives.

August Laughs

Kyla, while watching the Olympics: "That guy looks like my boyfriend."

Damon, also while watching the Olympics, and hearing about the female athlete who was forced to undergo gender testing to determine she was, in fact, a woman: "Can't they just look and see?"

McKay learned to do a "surprised face", by making his mouth into an O. One day at a soccer game, I was talking to another mom about how close my boys are in age. I told her it was a surprise. McKay, who was in my arms, looked at me and gave me his "surprised face."

Kyla, helping with lunch one day: "McKay wants more cotton cheese."

Damon, very upset: "McKay rubbed his toothbrush on his bum!"

Carter, walking around without a shirt on: "Do you see my nipples?"

Allie, at breakfast one morning, took some nuts Kyla had put out for Jeff. "I got dad's nut!" Just as she said this, Damon and Jeff shared a look and burst into laughter. Soon, everyone was laughing, but only 3 of us knew why.

Carter, who has spent the last week potty-training, found the flap in his underwear. One particular pair weren't holding everything in and he told me, "My private is out! Put it back in!"

These Two...

When McKay was born just a short 13.5 months after Carter, everyone said, "they are going to be the best of friends." It was just about the only positive thing to hold on to when I was drowning trying to take care of my two babies. 

Now, almost 18 months later, we are starting to see the "best friends" thing emerge with these two. I was looking at all the pictures I have on my phone to prove it, and couldn't help but feel that they are very lucky to have each other. I just hope they stay close during the rough teenage years. 

Here are some of the things these "best friends" like to do together...

Eat watermelon on the deck

Share a double tube at Seven Peaks

Wash each other's hair fully clothed (Carter washed McKay's)

Keep me company at Costco, and try the green smoothies. Got Smoothie? That can be Blendtec's new campaign slogan. And these two can model the green 'staches.

Jump on the mattresses Grandpa Dale had set up for him on the deck

Get in LOTS of trouble together. This was an entire tube of kids' toothpaste on McKay's head (and counter, floor, and mirror). Carter's handiwork. McKay ended up in the tub, and Carter ended up in timeout.

Here's another time, with Desitin in their hair. Carter, again, is to blame. 

If you're sensing a pattern, that Carter has become a little mischievous and independent, you would be right. Last week, besides the toothpaste incident and the Desitin incident, he also left the faucet running in the laundry room, flooding the counters and soaking down every drawer. I had to clean everything out and throw a ton of stuff away (which I probably needed to do anyway, but I wasn't planning on it that day!). Really, that kid needs to be tied down. He is always seconds away from disaster.

BUT, his independence has also been a very good thing. He has been "practicing" going on the potty for quite a while now, just whenever he felt like it. Occasionally, he would have success, and we would celebrate, but mostly he just sat there and said, "maybe next time."

Well, this week he decided it was time. He started taking off his diaper and taking himself to the bathroom. After two days of changing ZERO diapers for him, I gave in and bought him some undies. He wanted to wear them to bed last night, and cried when I told him he needed a diaper. So I let him wear the undies. And he stayed dry. And he's been dry all day today, and has used the bathroom (on his own) three or four times.

I know he will probably regress, and it can't POSSIBLY be this easy, but I'm grateful for that independent little spirit that wants to be a big boy. And I'm also grateful for that GIANT bladder. Definitely a big plus when potty-training. 

And just in case you think McKay isn't capable of making messes on his own...here he is yesterday eating some cherries. My brother called him a blood-thirsty Lamanite. Haha. Yep. With blonde hair. 

Changes

Back in July, Damon and I ran a 5K. Jeff's office has sponsored a 5K/10K race for the last few years over the 24th of July, and he has always told me we should run in it. So, we set a goal to do it this year and I talked Damon into running it with me (Jeff drives in the lead car to pace the race). 

We "trained" for about two weeks, 3-4 days a week. We would just run 3.1 miles in the morning. This was a big deal for me. I have never been much of a runner. At all. I need a ball something else interesting to keep my attention. Running is boring. And I doubt I have ever run more than one mile straight (unless you count all that conditioning we did in high school...I have no idea how much we ran then). So, 3.1 miles was a lot for me. 

Damon struggled a lot while we were running in the mornings. He would get tired and want to walk, and I tried to push him. We always stopped to walk, but I always made him run again before he felt ready. He was quite negative about the whole thing, really doubting whether or not he'd be able to do it. 

But we were committed. We set a goal to do the whole race in under 30 minutes. Our best time up to that point was 33 minutes, and we had to stop to walk a couple of times. So we planned to run the whole time, starting off slow, and then passing people toward the end.

The race itself wasn't awful. Damon did awesome. We never stopped once and we actually did pass quite a few people during the last mile. Damon finished 3 seconds ahead of me, as I got a phone call right at the end and had to take it, while he sprinted on ahead. Our times were 28:56 and 28:59. We were both really happy. And because daddy is a sponsor, Damon got a medal (we were both 5th in our age group, and the top 3 get a medal. But Damon's age group is 1-14, and only one kid younger than him beat him, so we thought he earned one).

Then on July 31st, I had a small surgery done. And of course, there is quite a story that goes with that. Take a good look at the picture above, especially my chest area. Can't see it? That's because it didn't exist anymore. Six different times producing milk for six different babies really took its toll. I couldn't fill out an A cup. Padded bras helped, but when I put on a sports bra, there was no hiding the fact that I looked more like my 10-year old son than I did a 32-year old woman.

Jeff and I had always joked about when I would get my boob job. But I always thought that day, when and if it came, would be years and years down the road. And so I was more than a little surprised when Jeff told me that he had saved enough money if it was something I wanted to do. He made it clear that he didn't care either way what I did, but if it was something I wanted to do for ME, he was happy to support it (haha, bra joke).

For the first time, I really started thinking about it. And going through reasons for and against the surgery. There were so many reasons to do it. And when it came down to it, there was really only one reason not to do it: what would everyone else think? 

I know having a breast augmentation has become so much more common than it used to be, but there still is a little bit of a stigma attached to it. I didn't want people to think I was doing it to please Jeff, or because I didn't have any self-confidence. That just wasn't true. I also didn't want people to think that I had become this vain person who cared so much about how she looked that she had to see a plastic surgeon. 

But then I realized that all of that didn't matter. People are going to think whatever they want to think. If they think less of me, I honestly don't care. I know who I am and I know the reasons why I wanted to do it, and that's all that really mattered. 

So, I went ahead and did it. Silicone implants on July 31st. Here's a profile pic from the night before. See? Nothing there. 

We told the kids I had the flu for a few days, as I had to rest a lot and couldn't do much around the house. It was a fairly quick recovery, but still very painful and limiting. Jeff was off that week and took on the responsibility of taking care of the kids while I tried to stay awake after taking my painkillers. Luckily, the Olympics were going on and we had plenty to keep us entertained. 

Now I am four weeks out and really loving the results. I am back to my normal activities and almost completely healed. I went bra shopping last week at Victoria's Secret and it was actually fun! And while I think it is super obvious (at least to me), no one has said anything to me. Those who do know have all said that it is not obvious at all, but just looks natural. And that is a relief. 

My sister wants pics in a variety of poses (swimsuit, t-shirt, dress, etc) and I may do that. But for now, I just have one pic that shows the difference. And a little cleavage for the first time...maybe ever. 

The kids are still oblivious. I decided I would tell them that I needed to get a few things fixed after having so many babies (true) if they said anything to me, but they haven't. And I don't think they will. 

I put off writing this post for quite a while, because I wasn't sure I wanted to be real open about it. But I don't feel like I have anything to hide. In fact, I feel like I have something to be proud of now. So if any of my fellow members of the "Itty Bitty Titty Club" are contemplating having this done someday, I am totally on your side! 

School Days

School started yesterday. Halle-freakin-lujah. Kyla starts kindergarten next week, so I'll have to take a pic of her then. Until then, and until I get around to the other posts I have thought up but never taken the time to write, here are some fun pics of the first days of school the past six years.

Damon, first day of Kindergarten (2007, Jacksonville, FL)

Damon, first day of 1st grade (2008, Springville, UT)

Damon, first day of 2nd grade (2009, our house in Orem)

Damon, first day of 3rd grade, Allie first day of kindergarten, Kyla wishing for school of some kind (a week later) (2010)

Damon, first day of 4th grade, Allie first day of 1st grade, Kyla first day of preschool (a week later) (2011)

Damon, first day of 5th grade, Allie first day of 2nd grade, Kyla first day of Kindergarten (a week later) (2012)

A Boy Thing

It's been a long time since Damon was a toddler. I still remember it vividly, all the walks we took around the duck pond, drawing parking lots and roads on the sidewalk for all his cars, and his obsession with letters. He and I had a lot of fun together, just the two of us. It took a long time to get another baby to our family, and after Chance, I wasn't so sure we were going to have any more, so Damon got a lot of personal attention from me.

Then we had the two girls, and we all got involved with lots of girlie things: Barbies and baby dolls and makeup and dress ups. Yes, those girls sure were different as toddlers than Damon was. Fun, too, in a new way for me.

Now we're back in the toddler boy phase. And it's a lot of fun. These little boys love balls and trains and getting dirty outside. Their energy is endless and their attention spans are miniscule. But oh, how I love them.

Carter, as you may remember, has had stitches twice. And I highly doubt he is finished having them. He is just a rough little boy who loves to jump off high places and get into things he shouldn't.

Here he is just taking off from this rock.

McKay follows everything Carter does. He wants to be just like him and thinks he is big enough to do all the same things. These boys love building piles of pillows and jumping off the bed (or in McKay's case, sliding off the bed on his feet). McKay also loves balls and trains and Barbies and Little Pet Shops. He pretty much thinks all the older kids have all the fun and can't stand to be left out. 

Damon is not a toddler anymore. He has become a mini-Jeff, with so many of the same interests. We are finishing our basement right now, and Jeff had a safe door installed, creating a vault for all his valuables (guns, coins, maps, etc). So one day, out of the blue, Damon told me he wanted to buy a safe for his valuables, too. We looked on Amazon and found a small safe that could be mounted to his wall (in his new room) for $50. And since Damon had $150 in his bank account, we let him buy it.

He was so excited, and could barely stand the two days it took for Amazon to fulfill his order. He wrote on the calendar when he expected it to come, and every time the doorbell rang, he ran to see if it was here yet. Finally, it came. And he couldn't be happier. I bet he is now dreaming of all the things he can fill it with, as he only has a few coins and other precious things stashed away.

I sure love my boys, both big and small.

July Funnies

July is over. That makes me sad, I think it's my favorite month of the year. Here's what we had for July:

One morning, Jeff got up and ate a bowl of Grape Nuts. The box was still on the counter and Carter found it and helped himself to a taste. He looked at me and said, "Only baby quails eat this?"

Driving home one day, Kyla asked me what kinds of things would get you thrown in jail. I told her things that are against the law. She asked, "like killing a grandma?"

Allie: "My eyelashes are getting old!" (I think they were dry when she had pink eye)

Carter said he was feeling sick one morning. He then told me, "I wanna frow up on McKay's head!"

We were doing something (I forget now what it was) that made an unappealing noise. The kind that gets under your skin, like fingernails on the chalkboard. Kyla said, "That hurts my feelings!"

One day while driving, we were jamming to "Call Me Maybe," and Jeff had some advice for Damon, based on the lyrics of the song. "Here's your first lesson about girls. They don't know what they want."

Damon, Allie and Kyla were playing one day, buying and selling things to each other. I overhead Allie calling out, "Cars for sale! I take credit!"

Carter has been obsessed with Damon's cap gun and taking it whenever he can. He had it on the bed with him and jumped over it. He looked at me and said, "I jump the gun!"

Mom: "Where's the Oreos?"
Allie: "Damon snooked them."

Little Mermaid

I decided for the summer, instead of having the girls do one activity every week (like gymnastics), I would sign them up for one big activity. I chose Up With Kids. It was a week long drama camp from 9-3, and they put on a production of Little Mermaid at the end of the week. They had a blast, and the play was a lot of fun. For them, anyway. Mostly it was a lot of kids standing around and occasionally putting in a line or singing a song. So it was painfully long and we couldn't hear all that well.

Still, I wish I had gotten better pics, because the costumes were adorable and they had such a good time. Carter thought it was fun.  

McKay thought it was too restrictive.

And Jeff ended up in the back of the room with the two little boys for the whole play, while I tried to video from way in the back. Not ideal. 

Two pics I did manage to get. Allie was a mermaid and also a sailor. She looked cute, even if I couldn't understand her two lines.

Kyla was a jellyfish (the one in green). She was constantly trying to stand by the mic, so I never knew when her two lines were actually coming. She also couldn't stop fiddling with her costume. Too tempting.

Overall, it was a super fun experience for the girls and they are already talking about doing it again next year.