He's figured it out!

Well, my little newborn isn't a newborn any more... He's figured out the crawl. On the plus side, once I've babyproofed a room, scanned for any chokables, moved the marbles out of the way, blocked access to any stairs, and placed favorite (chewable) toys in a circle around him, I can put him down and he can entertain himself for a few minutes by crawling/scooting/rolling to where ever he wants to go.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Jordan decided to see if he could copy the Santa physique! I live with such silly men!

Wow - what a week!

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted! The boys are off track and so I signed them up for swimming lessons. Then we have started basketball season and of course it is Christmas time! In November we applied to the United Way to sponsor a family for Christmas. We offered to sponsor a family with up to 6 kids, (when I say "we", I mean Aaron and myself and our boys, plus Aaron's 4 brothers and 4 sisters and their families - we're doing this instead of a gift exchange). After turning in the application last month, we waited and waited and didn't hear anything. We finally called last week and we were told that our application had been lost. Aaron told the United Way to just let it go and we would go through a social worker in another agency to find a family to help. So, we are helping this family that the social worker has assigned us, plus another single mom with 2 teenage children. On Wednesday I got an email from the United Way with information for a family that we've been assigned to sponsor. (Looks like they didn't lose our application after all!) We are now totally overbooked and can't do this by ourselves. But we hate to turn down this other family. We are looking for about 8 families to help supply Christmas for them. So I've been spending my time emailing everyone in the area trying to find enough people to supply Christmas for this single mom and her 6 kids. So far, we've found 5 people willing to sponsor the 6 children, one woman willing to make a gift basket for the mom, and 3 people willing to donate smaller amounts for gift certificates, wrapping paper, groceries, etc. We are trying to get this all done by next Wednesday. So if you don't hear anything from me, I am trying to do Christmas for my family, plus the family the social worker gave us, plus a single mom and her 2 teenage kids, plus the United Way family, plus nurse a baby, save a preschooler from himself, keep the school-age kids busy, swimming lessons 3 times a week, basketball practices and games, scouts for 2 boys, make sure the 10 year old is prepared for his piano recital next Friday, keep them reading (they all have reading logs that they have to fill out for school while they're off track), clean the house (although that's going by the wayside... way by the wayside...), try to fulfill my responsibilities in the Relief Society... and feed the partridge in a pear tree...
Happy Holidays!

We've been elfed...

We found another stupid website, but it still makes me smile every time I watch it!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9612440215

Can you see the teeth?

I've been trying to get a picture of Levi's two bottom teeth. I don't know if you can see them in this shot or not, but I thought it was cute anyway.

Go Jordan!

Jordan won a blue ribbon in a PTA contest last week! The contest was called Reflections, and the theme was "I Can Make A Difference By..." We took pictures of Jordan doing things like picking up trash, walking, riding his bike, using the recycle container, and turning off the lights. We made a photo collage and entered it into the photography division, and he won! His project goes on to the district level. We'll let you know how it goes!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow...

Saturday morning we woke up to lots of white stuff all over the ground, and by the time it stopped snowing, we had about 7 inches of the stuff. Needless to say, the boys donned their winter gear and had a blast (including Aaron!)

Where did this last week go?

Wow, we have had a busy week. Nothing too exciting. We hosted Thanksgiving for 25 people, cleaned house (daily), and the boys spent way too much time playing a new playstation game that they bought. I am just busy being mom. Thanksgiving went alright, I just felt a little bad that I got up at 5 am to start dinner, then ended up missing it because Levi decided that he wanted to eat right as we were serving it up! In all fairness, I can't blame the kid. After all, he was kind enough to sleep while we finished preparing the food :-).

Today has been one of those days: You know the ones - I've only got 5 boys, yet I've filled the tub 6 times today... Jacob has accounted for 3 of those times (we're trying to potty train) and Levi for 2 - sometimes when the diaper blows, it is easier to bathe the baby than go through 26 diaper wipes hoping we get it all. The highlight of the day came when I scratched my ear, only to find something wet on it - and it wasn't snow... It's bad enough when baby poop gets all over the baby - worse when it gets all over the mommy!

Campout!

Since Aaron is away with the scouts this weekend, the boys decided to campout, too. Of course, Their campout, however, consists of blowing up the air mattress, staying up late to watch a movie (Evan Almighty) and getting up early to watch cartoons. I'm sure they were much more comfortable than Aaron.

Caeden's Dental Appointment

Poor Caeden. He had some dental work done on Thursday, and since the cavities were between his back teeth, he was partially sedated so that he wouldn't freak out or move around while they worked on him. He was pretty drugged out, and after his appointment, he slept for 4 hours. The dentist called in the evening to check on him (nice dentist) and said it was pretty normal, but it was a little nerve-wracking to just watch the little man sleep. That being said, the house was significantly quieter that day...

So that's why...

Well, we figured it out! After three days or so of crying, whining, wanting to be fed constantly, out of control drooling, chewing on everything... we should have known! He just seems so young! Levi was biting on my hand and I felt a sharp little pinprick. I looked in his mouth and he's got TWO TEETH breaking through! My other boys have been at least 8-10 months old before their first teeth came in, and yet here's Levi, not even 6 months old, with 2 teeth coming in. Wow. So we got out the baby Oragel, and life is happy once again.
Today will be a busy day - both Caeden and Zachary have dental appointments. We have discovered that we have some dental skills to develop. They both have cavities and since Caeden's are between his back teeth (yuck!), they're going to do what's called a "conscious sedation" in order to get them filled without him freaking out, which means I'll have one loopy little guy on my hands for a large part of the morning. Zach's going to get the nitrous oxide, just because he is so very sensitive to anything inside his mouth (he cries when I brush his teeth). Then I've got Jacob - who's been particularly destructive lately - and a teething baby. Yup. Party at my house today! Did I mention that my sweet husband (who thankfully is taking a few hours off this morning to watch Jacob during the dental appointment and to help me get the boys home from the dentist) will be working late. He's going recruiting down at BYU tonight. It'll be a long day! Help!

I've been tagged!

Well, I've been tagged. According to my sister, that means that I need to post 6 things about myself that I don't think many people know. After thinking about it for a few days, I've come up with a few things that I'm willing to share:
1. I have no coordination. Seriously. It takes me months of running before I find my rhythm. (that's why I've only run regularly once in my life). It takes a few months of step aerobics before I stop tripping over the steps. Even after doing flags for a year in the high school marching band, I still only made alternate at BYU, and it took a year there to feel comfortable. I stuck with it, and even in my 4th - yes, 4th - year, I still didn't feel fluid. I did it because I enjoyed it, but not because I felt I was particularly good. Dancing mortifies me. One of my most embarrassing moments was country dancing on an early date with Aaron. I'm still shocked to this day that he didn't dump me that night. (You know what I'm talking about, don't you Aaron?) I feel like Elaine (from Seinfeld) has more dancing talent than me. I will do everything I can to avoid dancing, because it is a humiliating public display of my lack of talent. And it breaks my heart that a few of my boys seem to have inherited this lack of skill from me.
2. I am afraid of flying. I was in college, coming home from school for Christmas back in 1989. A friend of mine had just died and his funeral was at the same time as my flight. As we were taking off, I had an epiphany - he's dead, and I could also die, at any moment. An airplane is not a good place to come to that understanding. Every bump, every bit of turbulance made me think, "This plane could come down, and I could die at any time. Really die. Like squished on the ground dead. Really." Ever since then, flying reminds me of my own mortality, and I'm not ready to die yet. So I'm afraid to fly.
3. One of my life's ambitions is to play in the Orchestra at Temple Square. Music really touches me, and playing in a really good ensemble gives me goosebumps still. My favorite CD, Bach in the Bath, can actually bring me to tears when I get the chance to listen to it in a still moment. The slow building of Prelude, the soft entry of the flute, the dynamics... ahh, I need to put it on. Music is such an important part of me, and I'm so grateful that I have a sliver of that talent left. The best Christmas present ever was when I got my Yamaha silver head open-holed flute when I was 17. I actually cried. Still brings tears to my eyes. And it's sitting here, right in front of me, 21 years later, because I 've been asked to play for the Christmas program at church, which means I get to (yes, I said GET TO) practice.
4. Another life's ambition is to finish a college degree. I have always loved the medical field, and I wish I would have listened to mom and dad when they tried to talk me into going into nursing. But, no, I was stubborn and didn't want to be talked out of being a chief of staff at a trauma center (which was my life's ambition before I realized that I wanted to be a mom sometime, too, and when I realized I couldn't do both, my academic life fell apart.) Now that life and reality and realistic expectations have set in, I still want to get a degree and then find a job at a hospital - when my boys are grown.
5. Julie, I'm with you - I value sleep more than watching a stupid ball drop on New Year's eve. Besides, all those drunk people in Times Square give me the willies. Did I mention that I'm afraid of drunk people, too? I was chased out of a pizzeria when I was a teenager by a drunk man who couldn't understand that I was drinking ROOT BEER, not beer, so he blew up and chased us out. Kind of ironic that a drunk man got mad because he thought we were drinking, don't you think? Anyway, the erratic behavior of drunks scares me, especially when they get behind the wheel. Which is why I avoid driving on holidays...
6. Lastly, even with my life feeling a little chaotic (ok, a lot chaotic), if I happened to get pregnant again and have one more baby boy, I would be oh-so-very happy. But don't tell my husband. I think he's had enough.

So, have I shocked anyone? Or is this stuff that you all knew?

I must go. I've got so much to do, and I'm so very behind, and I think that Jacob may be destroying his room, again...

A Weekend of Firsts

Levi has had an exciting weekend (for him, anyway!) After a few days of incessant crying and constant nursing, we decided that it was time for REAL FOOD. Kind of. Anyway, he seems to be a fan of the rice cereal. I'm not sure how much he actually ate. He likes swishing it around his mouth with his tongue, and if any actually made it down his throat, I guess that's a bonus.

His other first was his first mess: Aaron laughs and tells me not to worry, that he'll surely be into the CD's again, but I had to take a picture anyway.

Ever since we got this CD rack, every boy has emptied it out at least a few times. (That's why we have it in the office - we can lock the doors to prevent the unloading of CD's.) We had set Levi on the floor in the office for a few minutes while Aaron was working on the computer with his back to Levi. Next thing we know, Levi had rolled over to the rack and begun unloading it. I knew Levi's time was coming, I just didn't think so soon! I love my boys - even with the messes!

Just trying to taste the air...

Does anyone else's sweet baby do this? Levi loves to put everything in his mouth, and when there's nothing else to do, he sticks his tongue out at everything. It just makes me laugh!

Pizza night

Tonight was pizza night at our house. Aaron is in Chicago on a business trip, and I've been thinking of the pizza that we used to make when I was a kid and living in Bolingbrook, IL (south of Chicago, if I remember right). Anyway, everyone helped (Jacob helped eat the cheese and spread sauce) and we all had a happy night. It has been a busy night with a baby that cries everytime I put him down - my arms are aching - and Jordan has a major project due tomorrow, so cheese and pepperoni and/or ham fit the bill!

Levi on the move!

Today's been one of those days where I spend way too much time going from one thing to another, and really not getting anything much done. (Although the kitchen is clean - always a bonus - and I did get a hole in the wall patched. Long story...) Levi, on the other hand, is getting closer and closer to being mobile... When I got him up from his afternoon nap, his head was at the opposite end of the crib and he had a blanket over his head. Kind of frieked me out, but he was fine. A little sweaty, but fine. And this morning, he started to roll from his back to his stomach! He's been rolling from stomach to back since September, but this is new for him. He is now able to get things that once were out of reach! Time to start doing some more baby-proofing. Maybe we'll have to get the gate for the top of the stairs before Christmas... Santa was planning to bring it to him, but I think we'll need it before then.

So how was your day?

Jacob has this scab on his nose that he keeps picking off, and today he knocked his sore nose on a chair. I didn't realize how much it was bleeding until Caeden came and told me that Jake had blood all over his face. I followed the blood trail until I found Jacob, trying to wipe his nose on everything. I'd post more, but I've got some stairs to scrub...

Here we go!

Welcome to our family blog! I'm determined to start this thing, mainly because I have had so much fun checking out my sister's blog. I figure that the rest of the family can check out mine and have a laugh every once in a while. Mom's been asking for Halloween pictures, but the kids got out of their costumes faster than I could get my camera, so we only have a picture of Jordan as a zombie... Next year I'll take pictures BEFORE we trick or treat.

Well, here we go! Someone thought that it would be a good idea for me to blog, just because my life with my boys made them laugh. And I thought it might help me see the humor in my life sooner than later... A good attribute for any mother to have, right? I'm new to this sort of thing, so please excuse the first few posts. I'm trying to figure this blog thing out!