feisty four

"Today is tomorrow and that is why it is always tomorrow." 
-Winter
Profound.

"I can't look at you mom. I gotta pay attention to the road." 
-Winter pretending to drive the fire engine

Dan: Let me see his junk. (talking about Angus's boy parts)
Winter: I wanna see junk!
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Winter at 4 is nowhere near as hard as Winter at 2 and 3. She is mostly loving and happy a lot of the time. But then some days we revert back to our old 3 year old self...like today. Today was going to be a good day, well at least a good morning. Because even though it's Dan's third day at work, as long as I can get to church by 8:45 I can go sit in church by myself for an hour and a half. It is the only time I actually sit by myself without someone asking me for something, crying to be fed, climbing on me or barking at neighbors or slobbering on me. And then there's the dogs... hahaha! Sorry I'm kinda loopy. (See my blog on being stoned)

This morning I let the girls sleep in because they've had some late nights lately and it was so nice and quiet this morning. I am always a bit lax on the whole bedtime thing in the summer. So we had a bit of a late start getting ready for church and by the time I got the babies fed, the girls up, dressed, hair done and breakfast granola bars in hand, it was already time for church to start. 

Oh well, I tried. Winter informed me on the way that she was NOT going to her new class because she doesn't like her new teacher. "She's stinky." She actually smells quite nice. That's just her four-year-old expression for not liking someone. Mya was not happy either. She's usually my helper but she didn't want to push the stroller today. I had Addie on one hip and a couple of bags in the other arm so I told her she just had to. She complained the whole way to the nursery but she pushed the stroller for me, stopping every few seconds then starting again. 

I took Winter kicking and screaming to her class and sat down in church (30 mins late) and took a deep breath. It was a great sermon although I was a bit frazzled and distracted thinking about whether or not I was a good mom making Winter go to class even when she doesn't want to. After church I got Mya from her class and she raced over to Winter's room and informed me that Winter was laying on the floor and not listening to her teacher. So I bribed her with a pink cupcake (I purchased from the bake sale) to apologize to her stinky teacher which she did, and then we were on our way home. Both babies fussed the whole way home because that's what babies do. 


Four kids ages 5 and under (and two large dogs) is not for the faint of heart. It's only for the moms who want to see how much they can handle... and how much they can't. But they can be so cute and sweet... sometimes.
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My enormous 2-month-old.

Cute and sweet :)

Morning watered down OJ's :)

:)

Arm kisses

Wearing mommy's shoes, smiling for the camera.

happy father's day

Today was Father's Day. It was a good day I guess. I managed to get all four kids to church on time despite Winter's efforts. As I was shooing the kids into the car, I realized Winter was still in her pjs. So I ran upstairs, grabbed a dress and shoes, yelled at her like a drill Sargent as she put them on, threw her hair in a ponytail and off we went. Church was lovely. All the kids went to their classes and I got to sit, uninterrupted for one hour and 30 minutes. After church, the babies napped, then we went to the station to visit Dan. Here are some pics:

I then went to Target with all four because I was feeling brave and dumb. I threw Angus in the Bjorn, and Addie in the stroller. We stopped to get "dinner" when we got there because it was 6:00 so Winter got a smoothie and Mya got a pretzel. Addie didn't want anything but fussed the whole time. She already had a Larabar in the car so I figured that could be her dinner. 

The girls were great. They even shared their pretzel and smoothie with each other. Angus peed on me for the fourth time this week. I felt something wet on my right flip-flop and Mya yelled, "He's peeing!" I shushed her and proceeded to get the items I needed. I didn't even care. Once home, Addie threw herself on the floor and started to cry. I figured it was time for bed. 

Then I ate MY dinner (a microwave dinner and a little wine) while Mya gave Winter a bath. I could hear her barking orders while Winter washed up. 

I'm tired. 

oh siri

I just love this picture of me and my favorite females on the planet... well living ones anyway. I liked my grandma a lot. She was pretty hilarious. 

Anyway, that's my sis on the right and mom on the left. Mom has become quite the voice texter. But lately there have been some... typos? Not sure what you call it when Siri doesn't understand what you're saying and writes the wrong thing. I copied two of my texts from my mom because they made me laugh so hard when I got them. 

The first one scared me at first. She wrote, 

"Okay. But just to let you know and demons is coming over at 11 to cover my other 3 chairs with me. We will be using drive in staple guns that they will be on the table. Anyway would love to have you come in play with Ethan and hang out." 

Demons are scary enough as it is but demons with staple guns? Forget about it.

And this one came today,

"Are you going to come and hang out with us this week? I have a hair appointment on Tuesday. But I have eaten all week the rest of the days." 

I told her she must have been full. ha!

So the first one was supposed to read, Auntie Rose is coming over, not demons.

The second one should have said I have Ethan all week. =) 

Hilarious. 

she's got it bad

Mya has her first crush on a boy named Nolan. My favorite things I've heard her say lately are:

"Will you paint a heart on my cheek so Nolan knows I'm in love with him?" and

"You know why I wear my running shoes to school? So I can chase Nolan and hug him!"

I'm not really sure if she knows what she's talking about. I'm pretty sure she just hears it from the other girls. Either way, it's slightly disturbing.

Winter had to have a heart too =) She's not in love with anyone that I know of...

amusing pics

Since I'm not firing on all cylinders (or is it pistons), I only have the brain power to post pics with little descriptions. Any serious thoughts on motherhood and life right now just ain't happening. 

Here's a bunch of Angus pics since he's changing daily...

One eyed Jack =) He did this all the time the first couple of weeks. Cute. 

He really does look like his dad =)

We have like 10 firetruck articles of clothing, of course.

This little piggy.

Addie is learning how to accessorize...

This is what we wore to the neighborhood BBQ. You gotta pick your battles. Winter is going to be that mom that wears lipstick and high heels to the park with her kids.

Doing her absolute fav thing in the world, riding a horsie. 

We have never worked harder for anything in our lives than we did for this shirt. Mya, Dan and I somehow got a bit behind on our kindergarten reading and quiz taking so we busted some serious tail this last month reading 3 books and taking 3 quizzes each day and 4 on the last day to complete her 50 books required to get this AR shirt. So much of how well your kid does in Kindergarten is really up to the parents. So unfair to the kids.

Firefighter pancake breakfast. 

Gymnastics buddies. They aren't allowed to do this around Addie. She climbs up there and tries to do it too. 

enjoy today

As a mom, the ratio of good days and bad days changes drastically from the ratio one experiences before kids. It was easy to enjoy most days when I was free to design what each day looked like from a morning run to lunch with friends to dinner with Dan. Rarely was my patience pushed to the max, my energy drained and my sleep interrupted. As you get older, life becomes harder, even if you don't have kids. A lot of the time it seems like many of us are just surviving the rough season we're in. 

Before Angus was born, I was already thinking we were going to have to survive the next year by just doing our best and getting through it. It sounds sad but Dan and I both know it isn't going to be easiy having 4 kids, 5 and under. We are going to be stressed and exhausted most of the time. But then I had a thought. These are precious years with my kids. 

Angus is going to change quickly, especially those first 6 months. I have no idea what he's going to look like or what his personality will become. Adelyn is so cute right now. She's a HANDFUL for sure but she is so fun. I've never seen a 1 year old with so much personality and emotion. Winter is four and learning so much about the world around her. She says and does the funniest things and has the craziest imagination. Mya is growing up fast. She's so smart. Every day she comes home with questions about things she learned at school that day. She is always pushing herself to do more or master a new skill. It is such an amazing thing to watch these little people grow and learn things about the world around them. 

God gave me these kids to teach and love but also to ENJOY. 
If I'm simply surviving today, I miss out on the fun stuff. This isn't an easy mindset to have. That's why I've written it down on my dry erase board on the fridge. ENJOY today. That way I'm reminded every time I get something out of the fridge which is like a bazillion times a day.

As a christian it's easy to have the mindset that we are simply putting up with this awful world before Jesus returns. That's not exactly helping anyone. 

Ecclesiastes 2:24 says, "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God."

This isn't based on our circumstances. This is a mindset. No matter what is happening, we are supposed to be thankful for the blessings and enjoy the good stuff. And there is plenty of good stuff to enjoy.

meet angus

Mom is here helping with the kids, making it possible for me to get a few minutes to post these pics and a quick summary of the birth. I'm so spoiled. I have no idea what it's like to have 4 kids yet.

I was worried that the 4th delivery would be fast and painful and prayed I would make it to the hospital in time to deliver. An epidural would be a bonus in my mind. But since little man took his time, we decided to induce four days after his due date came and went. 

What a great idea. We woke up at 5AM, grabbed some coffee and a bagel and went to the hospital to check in. How relaxing and different than the first 3. We had a full nights sleep and were ready to go. I've always gone into labor at 10:00 at night so we never got that last night of sleep before the big event. We laughed at how laid back and refreshed we were walking into have a baby. 

Around 7:00AM they started the pitocin on a low dose since I was already dilated to 4 centimeters and I warned them it would be fast. I insisted on the epidural right away so Dr. Chan, epidural extraordinaire came in and hooked it up around 7:50. He's done all my epidurals so I was happy it was him. After a weird reaction to the epidural, dizziness low blood pressure and high blood pressure, I was stable and the doctor upped the pitocin and broke my water. I puked shortly after that like I tend to do while in labor. No biggie. I quickly dilated to a 10 and was ready to push. Three pushes and little A was out! He had the cord wrapped around his neck twice with his hand in there too. He was a bit blue but pinked up quick. 

He is by far the longest, skinniest baby we've had measuring 21.5 inches and weighing 7.13 lbs. Lots of hair like the girls too. He's really mellow and rarely cries. I like him a lot. He's not as aggressive an eater as Winter and Addie but he's catching on and doing great. I'm doing well too. I'm dealing with the usual soreness from breastfeeding and cloudiness from no sleep but I know that this first month will be over in a blink and he will change drastically and quickly so I'm just trying to soak up every day with my new little bundle. 

The girls are super excited about him and want to hold him every second of the day. Addie brings him his blanky and gets upset when he cries. Other than that, her world doesn't really seem to be affected much. Grandma is here giving her tons of attention too. 

Well, that's the gist! Here we are, fam of 6!

big feet!