Mouths of Babes--May 2012

Luke:  Oh, we go through this over and over and nothing ever changes!
Sam:  It's just like the rules of this house.  They NEVER change!

Reillee:  He's a nice baby.  He's a nice girl.  Oh, he's crying!  Oh, he's a nice baby again.
(We hear this every day, multiple times a day.  She also points out every mommy that she sees, every daddy that she sees, and every "Santa" that she sees.  Seriously.)

Reillee:  I soooo boooful!  I a princess!  I a 'Punzel! *gasp* I need a neckinace! (necklace)

I know that Joshua's baptism deserves it's own post, and he will probably get one eventually, but for now here he is in his new suit with Luke on his baptism day.

The happy family of 8.  8?!  Wowzers!

Each of the girls, I believe, wore this on their first Sunday at church.  Kaylyn's outfit lasted less than an hour before she blew out.  That's got to be some kind of record.

I love the pictures that I have of each of the kids, sacked out on Luke, while he reads.  Tradition.

Finally, I had to document Kaylyn also wearing the red jumper.  It was one of the gender neutral outfits given to us for EmJ, and I have pictures of each baby wearing it.  Someday I'll have to compare them all side by side.  I love Kaylyn's face in this picture...I just can't figure out who she looks like!

Luke: You could have just asked her to be quiet, you didn't have to hit her.
EmJ: I did! I asked her like three hundred times!
Luke to Sam: Did she ask you to be quiet?
Sam: Not three hundred times!
(wait, this gets better)
Luke: Well, did she ask you once?
Sam: *holds up four fingers*

Alright, that's it for May!

Week One--Random Photos

 One week old...I should have grabbed a picture on the other side of the quilt.  My mom made it, and it's gorgeous.

 Reillee is so big now!

 Sucking her thumb...can you believe how her hair has darkened?  It's starting to fall out now and the peach fuzz appearing underneath is white-blonde like EmJ's hair.

 And I love her silver-hair cowlick stripe.  

 She LOVES the bath!

 Pardon my bruises...the nurses were practicing IVs on me.  Finally, after two weeks the bruises are starting to fade...all six of them.  (The epidural was great, and probably worth it...but at least when you go natural you get to avoid being a pincushion.  Sheesh.)

 A new outfit from Aunt Carly...the only new thing this little girl has.  However, we took newborn pictures (thanks, Aunt Angie!), which is a first for us.  Hopefully I will get them up here soon.

 And Reillee...making sure we don't forget about her in all the chaos.

Interesting choice in accessories.  She'd better not let Willie see her in his prized flat-hat!

The Big Reveal...and some other stuff...

 Can you see it?

 We've already learned that the trick to getting Kaylyn to sleep is to shove her face up against something.  Even, and especially, my armpit.  So, I have been spending most of my time worrying that she is suffocating instead of sleeping.  It's been great.

 The day we came home from the hospital we had a smallish birthday dinner for my dad and Willie.

 This eighth birthday business just goes on and on...Willie is loving it!

 I now have two sets of kids that share birth days (two on the 30th, two on the 1st) and two with birthdays 7 years and 364 days apart (EmJ\Reillee and Willie\Kaylyn).  Crazy, huh?!

 We've also been seeing a lot of this...are you dying of cuteness or of thinking about the cost of braces?  I'm not sure yet!

Introducing...

 Baby No Name Yet

Born: 4/30/2012

4:01 pm

7 lbs. 8 oz.

19 inches

Blonde and Blue

 Ready to eat!

 Proud Papa!

 Remember Reillee?  Bathphobic?  Not this one....she chilled out and relaxed in that tub and was flamin' mad when they took her out.

 I am in love with her hair.  It mohawks right into her widow's peak.  I hope it doesn't fall out--everybody knock on wood.

The kids came to visit us at the hospital on Monday evening.  Baby girl has been the talk of the town, and the kids have kept the name suggestions coming.  If I say anything positive about any name they come up with, they're like, "Okay then, it's settled, that's the name!"  Slow down, Charlie, I have to like it for forever.

Benjamin's list of names is as follows (read phonetically):

Plaj

Shrlit

Wilbirt

Samantha Ra

So, for now, "Wilbur" it is...

We'll have a new installment of photos, as well as a name, soon!

Mouths of Babes--April 2012

The Boss: It's like I am smarter than everyone in this family!

The Boss: Am I in that picture?

Me: No, that's just EmJ, Willie, and Gus.

The Boss: So I was still in your tummy?

Me: No, you were not even in my tummy yet.

The Boss: So I was still up in heaven? Dead?

The chorus of a song that the Boss wrote: Go get some fresh air. You can't have mine!

Willie: Can we fly to Italy for spring break? I really want to see Pompei.

Luke: Where are you going on your field trip tomorrow?

Willie: The Seattle Art Museum

Luke: The SAM

Willie: No, the Seattle Art Museum

Luke: Yeah, S-A-M, Seattle Art Museum

Willie: No, Muuuuuuuseum. S-U-M

Luke:  What letter did you learn at preschool today?
Sam:  Y.
Luke:  Because I'm curious what letter you learned.
Sam:  Y!
Luke:  I'm just interested.  I just want to know.
Sam:  I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!!!!

Sam:  You're not in charge of me!
Me:  Um, yes.  I am.
Sam:  Well, not very mu-ch!

Epic Beyblade Battle

 For months, I have been excited for Joshus'a birthday party!  Earlier this year, I won a giveaway from Three M Parties, in which I got a free kids' party with all the trimmings.  

When Joshua requested an Epic Beyblade Battle, Tamara, our planer and host, said, "Well, that's new!"  I told her that she could just put up some balloons and call it good (because you all know that's EXACTLY what I would do), but she immediately shook her head and said, "Uh-uh, that's not how I do things."

 As you can see, she did not disappoint!  She pulled off the Epic Beyblade Battle, complete with that amazing painting (done by a friend), beautiful invitations, Happy Birthday banner, t-shirts for the boys to decorate to represent the Bey that they'd be battling, Beyblade bingo, a new Bey for each boy, and of course, the most epic of all the Epic Beyblade Battles.  She was also great with the boys...whom I would have sent outside because they were ca-razy...and seemed to thoroughly enjoy being with them.  Tamara did not let me work at all.  Luke and I got to sit and observe and enjoy the party, which was fabulous!  No stress.

The best thing, of course, was that Joshua loved it and had a great time with his best buddies.  

8 years old is a big birthday, and the party was a great start to what should be a fun-filled week...and memorable month!!

Thank you, Tamara!!

www.threemparties.com

Easter, Birthday, and Pitching

Yep, I remembered at the last second to take an obligatory Easter dress picture. We had a lovely Easter Sunday.

We also colored eggs...Reillee, as you can see, tried to drink the dye..."Es yucky me! I no wike it dat drink!"

We celebrated EmJ and Reillee's birthdays together with the grandparents.

Presents!

More presents!

I should add that I, too, had a lovely birthday. I got to go out to lunch with my mother-in-law, then to dinner and a movie with Luke, then a birthday dinner on Easter with my family.

And last, but not least, here is the video of Joshua's first pitching experience. I caught a number of warm-up pitches, and the very last pitch in the video is his first live pitch. It was a strike! He struck out that first batter for the third out, then pitched ALL balls the next inning. (Too much adrenaline?) The next day, he pitched two innings--hitting one batter, giving up one hit, and striking out 6! He was phenomenal.

Happy Easter!!

The Boss and her preschool friend (and all of us over here at the crazy house) wish you a very Happy Easter!!

We hope you gorge on black jelly beans and chocolate dipped peeps.

But more importantly, that you rejoice and reflect on the best, truest, importantest, and most quotable quote EVER...

"He is not here, for He is risen!"

Mouths of Babes--March 2012

This month Joshua started Cub Scouts...he is so cute! And it only took him ONE day to determine that he didn't need to wear the entire get-up each week. He only looked spit-shined that first meeting.

The Boss asked me to blow dry her hair...so I tried to straighten it. This is as good as it got, and she looked adorable. I straightened it on a Saturday night and by Sunday morning her hair was back to it's unruly self. I fear Sam is going to hate her hair for a while until she realizes how awesome it is.

Me: Sam, why would you shove your dollar in there? Now we can't get it out.

Gus: I guess Sam just doesn't have a brain.

Sam: Yes, I do! It's just turned off!

(This conversation occurred a couple of hours after she murdered Dinner and was told that she'd have to use her own money to buy Gus a new goldfish. We'd like to welcome Breakfast to the family...I hope he doesn't get mutilated, tortured, or killed before this post published on March 31st. Today is March 1st.)

Reillee: No talking!

Reillee: No throwing!

Reillee: Move! Dad working dat chair!

Reillee: No playing!

Reillee: No, no seevees!

(Reillee has taken it upon herself to be the house police. She let's us know when it's time to stop talking, throwing, playing, or watching television. Furthermore, I am not allowed to sit at Luke's desk and use the computer. She has reprimanded up repeatedly this month...I wish I had written down everything as she said it. This month she has also been trying to give up her nap (hahahaha...no!), and the following sort of exchange has become a daily occurrence....)

Reillee: Hi Mom, outta bed!

Me: It's time to take a nap, let's go back upstairs.

Reillee: No, no naps. Time a play pesshops. Need a bunny pesshop.

Me: How about you get the bunny petshop and bring it to your bed.

Reillee: No, no naps. All done reading books.

Me: Did you put the books away?

Reille: Ressss.

Me: You put them on the shelf?

Reillee: Resssss.

Me: So if I go upstairs and check, they will be put away on the shelf?

Reillee: No. Time a play pesshops. Need a bunny pesshop.

(...and around we go...) (Sidenote: I found a petshop in the depths of the diaper bag a few days ago and threw it in the petshop bin. Reille, who is a weeeeeeeee bit OCD, noticed it immediately. "A new birdie pesshop! Got a new birdie one!" I found it amazing that in a jumble of 47 (I counted) petshops plus accessories, she spotted a new one right away. It was soon lined up with all the others.)

Gus: I didn't know a lot about tball today, but now I know a lot, so I have to teach Clark all about tball, okay?

(This happened after his first practice. Wow, how did I miss all the tball fun when Willie was little? It's like half baseball/half football. Every time a kid hits the ball I want to yell, "Fumble!" If Gus gets through the season without a black eye or broken clavicle, we'll be in good shape! Oh, and he looks just like my brother, Zack, in his uniform. Soooooo, cute!)

Sam: Is the baby sister naked in your tummy?...and...does she have a little teeny crib?

And finally, I just have to report that Joshua is doing phenomenally in baseball this season. He has been hitting the ball hard off of the kid pitchers (I guess it helps to have me, the anti-pitcher, pitch to him with the instruction to "swing at everything!"). He also made a couple of outs in his first game...always exciting....and made us all laugh while playing catcher. The gear is still WAAAAYYYY too big for him, but he did fine--making an impressive throw to second to nab a runner that had been standing there for five minutes already while Joshua fumbled around in his gear searching for the ball. It was awesome. He reports that this week, he will get to pitch for the first time...exciting!!

And Luke ump'ed his first game. I have been laughing at him for the last two days because he can hardly walk, his quads are so sore from squatting. Things to work on: calling strikes when the batter swings and calling balls when the pitches arc in from 10 feet up.

Luke: You know, it was fun, but in the end you just hope you called a fair game.

TEN!!

Happy Birthday, Emmeline!!

I absolutely cannot believe that you are 10 years old...

No Happy Dooday!

First of all, Reillee is so quiet in this video (and every other one I have tried to take of her singing or counting) that I am aware and won't be offended if only my mother has the patience to sit through it. No worries, it's mostly for posterity!

Second, Reillee is TWO!!!

Third, I woke her up by singing happy birthday this morning and she promptly cut me off,

"No, no happy dooday! Happy dooday cakes!"

So, we'll sing later tonight and eat dooday cake and open whatever old toys the kids have wrapped up as birthday gifts.

Happy Birthday, Reillee Anita!!

Talent Show!!

The kids did a great job in the primary talent show last weekend...much better than any of them performed for our little home recording session. I am so proud of them (particularly the piano players) for working so hard and getting up there in front of everybody. The text of Sam's poem, in case you can't understand it, is as follows:

Willie said it was a hat

So I put it on

Now Daddy's asking,

Where the heck's the toilet plunger gone!

--Shel Silverstein

Let, let, let your Feelings Out

So, last night was Emmeline's spring music concert. Through the concert, Luke and I were rudely preparing a blog post about how intensely painful the concert was, the ills of public schools and political correctness, and the absolute torture of turning a perfectly horrible country song into a perfectly horrific elementary school concert song...

"Don't laugh at me, don't call me names, don't get you pleasure from my pains..."

Oh, it was painful. Especially the line about a "single teenage mother trying to overcome my past" that they changed to say, "the slowest on the playground, the one who comes in last."

Really? Someone has to be last.

FYI, it's usually EmJ....who doesn't care one whit if you laugh at her. After all, she has the king and queen of teasing and sarcasm for her parents.

(I have to add a little note here that the kids chosen to sing solos were, for the most part, very good. Especially the little girl from my primary class--she's stellar.)

And then there was "We will, we will...GIVE YOU PEACE!"

(At this point, Luke was banging his head on the chair in front of him.)

And the rap. Rap?

And the prom dresses....and the flowers...and the grandparents that came in especially for the occassion....

(I kept reminding Luke that my mom swears that elementary orchestra concerts are far worse. Oh, the things we have to look forward to...)

But, then Reillee decided that she would start dancing and made us and everyone around us laugh so hard we cried. I don't know if she was just really feelin' the groove, or if her hair was stuck on her face, but her performance made the rest of the evening (kind of) worth it.

The video doesn't do it justice, but I was laughing too hard to hold the camera steady.

Thanks, Reillee.

And, yes, we were laughing at you, calling you names, and getting pleasure from your pains...or something like that.

The Road to the Olympics Goes through....

Everett?

Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. Everett is about the grossest place on the face of the earth.

However, they hosted the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships this past weekend--the last big international meet before the Olympic trials.

And I got to go!!!

Thanks Luke! You're the man.

This first picture is my view from my seat....I actually only sat there long enough to take this photo. Shortly after the Australian team started their rotation on floor, one of their gymnasts came out of her tumbling pass and dislocated her ankle...I know that doesn't sound terrible, but it was the grossest thing I've ever seen--and I was pretty far away. The poor girl's foot was backwards and the bone pierced the skin. When she passed out, I started to get woozy and actually had to remove myself (hey, so did one of the judges)! After I saved my dinner and recovered a bit, I found an awesome seat up close and personal.

All in all, I got to go to four of the six sessions. Here are the Americans warming up on bars (sitting up by the men's high bar the next day was wicked cool--I mean seriously amazing).

Another highlight of the weekend was talking to gold medalist Carly Patterson. Our conversation went like this,

Me: Are you going to announce from right here?

Carly: Uh-huh!

Me: Then I will get out of the shot.

Me and Carly, we're BFFs now. She should have awarded me the lifetime supply of Kellogg's cereal just for removing my pregnant self from in front of the camera.

And the best part,

watching team USA win 13 gold medals, including both men's and women's team and men's and women's all-around.

I got to stand for the National Anthem over and over again and I loved every minute of it.

Let's hope that their showing in London this summer is comparable!!

Maybe Carly can get me some free passes...

(The USA women's team...China in 2nd, Canada in 3rd.)

(I've got to start wearing more red.)

Nesting

Today I scrubbed my walls. It was lovely, and my house smells of bleach, and I had a few surprises along the way.

It turns out that in addition to the typical high-traffic areas (which actually get cleaned more regularly) like the entry way (go ahead, kick off your shoes against the wall), the stairs (handprints all the way up), the light switches (gross!), and the spot that Willie bounces a tennis ball off of 2,000 times a day, by far the GRIMIEST part of our walls is...

the "nose in the corner" corner!

Cleaning that corner made me laugh really hard. I wanted to stick someone in the corner just to take a picture. However, I don't want to have to rescrub.

I am henceforth going to develop a paint color called "Snot 'n' Tears"...it's guaranteed to be a big seller (paired with my wildly successful parenting book of the same name).

Now, back to nesting...

Vote Today!!

Luke: Give me a beso...Te quiero (I love you)!

Reillee: Mucho, mucho, mucho!

Luke: Mucho? Alright.

Reillee: Mucho, alright. Mitt Romney!

Washingtonians...go vote tomorrow morning!!

Mouths of Babes--February 2012

Gus: "Mom, my remote control car broke already. I think it broke from Joshua just being by it."

Me: "Sam, what is 8 + 2?"

Sam: "10!"

Me: "Right. What is 1 + 1?"

Sam: "7!"

Me: "That's what I thought."

Me: (after I brushed an eyelash off of Reillee's cheek and had her blow it away) "What did you wish for?"

Reillee: "Happy Birthday cake!" (happy "doo-a-day" cake)

Reillee: (every morning and every day after nap) "Hi mom! Outta bed!" (I think the big girl bed transition is going rather well.)

EmJ: "Mom, if I get sick you can sue the lunch ladies." (I don't even want to know...)

Reillee: "Hi Mom!"

Me: "Good morning, Reillee. Did you sleep good?"

Reillee: "Ress. I sleep well."

Gus: "I don't like pickles!"

Me: "Well, just take them off your sandwich."

Gus: "But the bread already has pickle stains!"

Luke: "It's Grandma's birthday today. She is turning.....31."

Willie: "Noooooo, one hundred and thirty one."

Willie: "If I go for President, will you vote for me?"

And some notes about February...

*Reillee sang. All day, every day. She hears songs just a couple of times and then knows and sings them over and over again. I can usually tell what she is singing by the tune (hooray), but occasionally the words come out correctly, too. Or, when she sings Jingle Bells, I can figure it out by the "Hey!" at the end of the phrase.

*Joshua had baseball tryouts and was disappointed that they only lasted a few minutes. "Is that guy our coach? Is this our team? How come we didn't get to bat? Why are we already done?" I don't think he quite got the concept of a tryout (or, more accurately, a safety evaluation to make sure he could play up a level without getting killed). He passed.

*We celebrated a lovely Valentine's Day, complete with more candy than Halloween. Seriously, can we just go back to the paper valentines?

*Gus bought a goldfish. His name? Dinner. As in, "I'm going to go check on Dinner!" "Ewww, something is wrong with Dinner!" "Dinner stinks!" Dinner the goldfish.

*EmJ taught preschool at our house during mid-winter break. It was so fun to watch her take charge and teach the kids everything she knows about the letter J. She was done with her "lesson" in about 5 minutes, but she did well singing with the kids, reading stories, making Jewelery, Jumping rope, and eating Jam on toast. Good Job!!

*EmJ's last basketball game was played and the boys got info on their baseball teams from their new coaches!! Practices start next week! Go Diamondbacks!!

*We attended Mariner's Fanfest (okay, it was actually at the end of January). Pictures are on my phone and thus, for the moment unretrieveable...but it was crazy fun. The best part was that it motivated Gus to want to play t-ball this year!!

*30 weeks and still running, barely. I shuffled 30 miles this month.

*We (okay, Luke) are watching the 2012 election unfold with great intensity. The kids are into it, Reillee especially (Mitt Momney!) and I am waiting for the poor, old grandson of a coal miner to come on national TV and sing, "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat wo-o-orms." Seriously, does he come across that way to anybody else?

*That's it! Bring on March!