Lunches with J

J loves to have people come and eat lunch with him.  I have gone nearly every week since he entered Kindergarten.  It is more difficult with two babies, but we have made it work. 

He got to eat lunch with Grandma and Grandpa and A on Tuesday.

A loves going to lunch with J about as much as he loves having A come.

They loved it so much that we did it again.  This is A and J on Friday (Their last day together).

V thinks sitting at the table as a "big girl" is soooooooooooo cool!

Baby C was cranky, so I held him.  Then, V was a little pill, so I held her.  I didn't even know until A took these pictures that baby C had fallen asleep.

I am so grateful for my kids.  I love them so much.  I ended up taking J, C, and K all out early from school on Friday so that they would have some more time with A.  She left to go to her other home on Saturday, but those three went to their dad's on Friday night.  It was worth pulling them out.  The four of them spent about an hour in the rain playing foursquare together.  Memories that would not have been made had they stayed in school.  :)

Life is tough, however.  I didn't realize exactly what I was getting into with these two babies and four older kids.  I knew it would be hard.  I wasn't prepared for exactly how tough it is.  I spend most of my day with our cranky new guy.  What extra time I have away from him, I spend corralling and/or playing with my defiant little toddler.  The remaining moments of my day go to talking to, driving, cooking food for, and loving my older kids.  This leaves almost no time for house cleaning / tidying, or quilting, or anything else that I enjoy and miss.  It even is difficult to spend time with CK.  I know this is but a small moment in our lives.  I also know that I will miss it terribly some day when all six have left home.  But, for now, it is a challenge that I am striving to rise to meet.  President Monson has said that we can choose to be positive in ANY situation.  I know this is true and I am working on this as a personal goal.  I hate piles.  I hate a messy home.  It is easy to notice these and what else DIDN'T get done, instead of all the good that I enjoyed in that day with my kids that I am blessed to have.  Working on it!  :)

My Life

These are my six children. They are my life and are such a joy to me! I am so super blessed!!

A (10), K (14.5), baby C (7 weeks), C (12.5), V (18 months), and J (7.5)

Happy Birthday, A!

A's birthday was back in February. Due to her having two different houses, and the birth of baby C, we haven't been able to celebrate together. We sent her a little package to let her know that we were thinking of her, but the majority of her birthday we wanted to celebrate while she was here.

She began the day by waking up to streamers on her door, which is a tradition at our house. She also got to choose her meals. We ate French toast casserole for breakfast, chicken nugget wraps for lunch, and Hawaii Haystacks for dinner. Since we had just had cupcakes, we had birthday brownies instead.

She got to blow out the candles, eat her brownies, and open presents. The other kids had purchased/made presents for her over a month ago. They were so excited for her to open them. One thing the kids decided to do was to give her experiences instead of objects. The girls are all going on a progressive dinner with her, and the boys are going to take her to play miniature golf together. K spent some of her own money to buy her some special gifts. CK and I also got her some other gifts in addition to what the kids gave her.

I am so glad that A is part of our family! I feel like our family is complete when she is here. I love her just as much as I love any of the other children. I know that we have been so blessed to have our family blend so seamlessly. It is hard for me to describe just how lucky I feel! I do know that I am 100% sure that my feelings for A are just as deep as my feelings for any of the other five children! I'm not sure I would've known that was possible, until it happened to us.

Happy birthday, A! I love you!

My parents

So, on a sidenote, I have been trying to be more diligent in my blogging. It is very important to me, and I don't have a lot of time. I have been trying to use the blogger app everyday while I feed the baby. I like it because things are actually getting done. But, I miss the flexibility of putting pictures in the middle of the words and I write better when I'm typing than on my phone.

That said, I am happy that today's blog post is about my parents. They flew here for my nephew's baptism and baby C's blessing.

We have had such a great time. It was hard to say goodbye to them last night. I was so blessed to be raised by parents who loved me and taught me about Jesus Christ. They taught me to be responsible for my actions and to serve other people. They have raised five wonderful children and have been blessed with 10 grandchildren so far. They may not be successful by the world standards but I must say that their lives have been a great success!

First, I have a picture of me with my parents, and then a picture with all 10 of their grandchildren.

Baby C's Namesakes

This picture is with Baby C's grandpas whom he is named after (2 middles names).

This is a cool picture because he is first (C). Grandpa K is next (E). Grandpa L is next (A). CK is next (K). So his initials in picture in his blessing day: Awesome!

A priceless treasure

Yesterday, we recorded a book.

V had been given the book as a gift. It was a high quality version of the frames/books on which you record a voice message so someone can remember you.

I had been saving this book since July. I really wanted to have the grandparents record it since they all live so far away. And, guess what? They are all here in one place!

The book has seven pages and she has four grandparents. She also has four siblings that can read. Hmmm. I decided to have A read one since she isn't here often and CK and I each did one.

It is amazing. Voices of Grandma and Grandpa L, voices of Grandma and Grandpa K, A's voice, and voices of Mom and Dad. I listen to it and recognize such a precious treasure.

A funny story is that I am a little weepy. And hearing these words read by these grandparents was already making me a little bit emotional. When it came my turn to read, I would read just a line or two, and get too choked up to go on and so I would start laughing. I had to rerecord mine half a dozen times. And the only way it worked was to take it into a room by myself so they did not hear me get emotional.

"I love grandma's hugs"

V's shirt said that today (although the word 'Grandma's' is too tiny to really see in the picture). So I took a picture of her with her grandmas. I love it! I love both of my moms and V absolutely loves her grandmas (as well as her grandpas)! We are so lucky to have them visit!

The many faces of V

V turned a year and a half a couple of days ago. I can't believe she's such a big girl! She is so much fun. She talks a lot. She loves to read, to learn, and to dance. She is also very defiant. She knows that if I am feeding the baby, I cannot go and make her do what she is supposed to do. If she is told to do something or not to do something she looks me right in the eye, and then proceeds to do exactly what I told her not to do. She is just too smart for me.

I love her so very much! And I am so glad that she is part of our family.

One Happy Mama!

All six of my children are under one roof for the first time! I am so blessed! I am soooooo happy!

And, as I wrote that, I realized that we have all of our children AND all of our parents in our home tonight. That's cool!

Where oh where has my little boy gone?

I have a couple of posts that I'm excited to post. But, I took this number day picture of C this morning. It is a little bit late, but we still got his number day. He looks like such a young man. I was in shock to look at these pictures and just see how much he has grown. I am proud of him.

After church

So, today I took the Littles home from church by myself. CK had a meeting. The older four were with their other parents.

It was time for lunch. I hurried and made V a quesadilla. I put her in her highchair, and then proceeded to nurse the baby.

All of a sudden, it gets very quiet. I turn around and find this.....

Oh what you do during spring break?

This week has been Spring Break at our house.  It has been a little crazy getting K ready for trek and having all the kids together.  We have had a more relaxing than usual Spring Break and a more crazy than usual Spring Break.  I don't know how we have both, but we do.

This morning, J was banned from electronics.  Every day he maxes out his time by 9 am or so and then feels that he has nothing to do.  -Sigh-  Crazy world we live in.  So, he decided to build a car out of boxes.  The problem was that he needed help from me and I was nursing the baby.  So he instead pushed V around in this box.  They both had so much fun.

It was even fun enough that C got in on the action.  He pushed V in the diaper box and J in his car in "races" around the house....where he was the motor for both.  All three had a lot of fun.  And I, as Mom, had so much fun watching my kids enjoy each other.

On Wednesday morning, we were planning to go Putt-Putting with my sister and her kids.  But, the weather had turned cold with a very frigid wind.  And, K and I still had stuff to prepare for Trek.  It just wasn't going to work, so instead we met at a donut shop and ate breakfast together.

It was so much fun.  The best part was the donut shop employee turned on songs from "Frozen" over the loudspeaker and all the girls, including the ones at the next table just sang at the top of their lungs.  K has such a gorgeous voice.  I loved hearing her sing. 

Finally, K went on Trek this week.  Here she is trying on her pioneer outfits before she goes.  Well, Baby C needs me.  Hopefully I can finish this post later!  :)

Our new normal

This is baby C's normal face. He is either crying, sleeping, or eating.....and it is frequently crying. What a cranky guy!

37 years young

Happy Birthday to me!!

This year has been a great one. Some changes for sure, but some the same...same house, same husband, etc.

Changes this last year include:
-K beginning high school and early morning seminary
-C doing athletics including early morning practices for football and basketball and after school for track.
-Baby C joining our family (now almost three weeks old!)
-A new stake formed. We are part of that new stake while a substantial part (although not near half) of our ward got split off to remain in our former stake.

What a great year! I am a very blessed woman! I adore my husband. I enjoy my six kids. I have to live on a budget, but we have all the necessities of life without going into debt. We have a comfortable home. We rejoice together in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have great friends - both old and new. My sister and family live close and we all love them. I am blessed indeed. My pain was real and still hurts sometimes but oh what a small moment it was and I am blessed more than I ever could have imagined.

Happy birthday to me!

4th annual Valentine's Day temple

And.....the big unveiling today of our annual temple and it is.......

Baton Rouge, LA

I love our valentine's day tradition. I love that CK loves me so much and knows me so well to know that this means more to me than a box of chocolates or a dozen roses.

So, sometime within the next year....we are all going to Louisiana! :)

Welcome to the world, my little caboose!

Baby C was born last Thursday, February 6, 2014. We are so lucky to have him. Since I'm doing this on my phone, with a baby in my arms, I will not share the full birth story. The short story is my water broke at 3:30. We made it to the hospital by 5 AM. And he was born at 7:23, after waiting and waiting for the doctor.

We were able to come home after just 24 hours. I am so grateful. We had a great hospital experience, but it was still the hospital. I would much rather be home, especially to be with my other children. I particularly worried about V.

It was a unique day, too, because we had snow. We don't get a lot of snow here. It snowed most of the day.

We are lucky that K. stayed with the kids in the morning, then my sister came and took the kids for the rest of that day and overnight and the next morning. That was such a blessing, especially for V.

V Is doing okay. Her volume has gotten a lot louder. I think it is her trying to get attention, as her life is turned upside down. She loves her baby brother, and does not seem to blame him for the upheaval.

Veteran Mom?

A couple of days ago, C said to me, "Mom, you are a veteran mom."  I agreed that I was on my sixth kid so I guess that makes me a veteran.  He cleared it up, though, by saying that I was veteran because I'd been a mom for 14+ years (If you count pregnancy, 15+).  Either way, I guess I fit that description.

It was brought home to me a little yesterday when I had a resident doctor at my OB appointment.  I had never seen her before.  She was asking me questions to prepare for the impending birth of our little guy.  As she talked to me, these are some things I realized.....I have given birth in a LOT of different ways.

One question:  Did your water break with your other children?
A:  One it broke and gushed, Two it broke and trickled, One I went into the hospital with close contractions and they broke it there.

Another question:  Do you use medication or not?
A:  One I had a full epidural, one I had a half epidural, one I had some IV drugs, and one I had 100% "natural" or without any drugs.

Question:  How long to you like to stay in the hospital?
A:  AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE!!!  But, I have stayed anywhere from about 18 hours to about 50, depending on everything else going on.

Question:  Do you like midwives or MD's?
A:  Three I have used midwives and loved them.  One I used an MD and enjoyed that too.  I guess I am pretty easy to please.

Question:  Do you already have boys or girls?
A:  Counting my step daughter, I have two boys and three girls, and this little guy will even it out.

Crazy.  It seems like each birth is different and each situation is different.  I guess when you list it all like that, I am indeed a veteran mom!

One thing that has been relatively consistent:  I have gone between 6-12 days early with each of my deliveries.  I don't know if he will follow suit.  Kind of hoping he doesn't.  The kids have sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much going on in February that closer to due date would work out well, but whoever said delivering a baby is convenient?!?

16 months

Still planning to do some catch-up. We have been sick this week. Up three nights in a row with a baby that could not sleep. Thank goodness CK takes at least half of the night shift. I am so grateful.

Now is my turn to be sick. I feel yucky. But, this too will pass.

V turned 16 months today. She says a bunch of words and she is so much fun.

Our definition of "Babymoon"

This weekend, CK and I used our free hotel night (that expired THAT night) to stay at a local fancy hotel.  It is funny to me how close we are to delivery of this new baby.  For that reason, I think it might count as a "Babymoon."  I have heard of "Babymoons," but we definitely did it differently.  We took our baby with us!  Our four older kids were with their other parents, so we took V and right after C's tournament on Friday, off we went.

For the most part, we had a lot of fun!  The room wasn't all the way cleaned and that was a bummer.  V really struggled to fall asleep (another bummer).  But, the hotel was fancy and fun and all three of us loved it.

We were on the 8th floor and V loved looking outside.

She also decided it would be fun to wear Daddy's shoes.  She is obsessed with shoes.  She quickly gave up on wearing them both, but it was fun to watch her hobble around in one.

She also loves to sit on things.  This bed pillow was perfect for her.

There are a whole bunch of indoor walkways and fountains and trees and water and plants.  It is beautiful.  We walked around Friday night.  V seemed to enjoy it, although I think she was afraid of falling in the water even from her stroller.  She got quite scared.

We asked V where the baby was and she patted my belly.  :)  She really has no idea what is coming, does she?

After she refused to sleep in the crib, we laid down a blanket and gave her a pillow and her pacifier (that she only uses to sleep at night).  We thought she might just sleep, but every time she got close....nope.

Meanwhile, we played Pandemic, which is one of our favorite games.  We haven't won playing with two people, but we did win and V just left us alone to play for the most part.  It was fun!

Here is the view of the lake from our room in the morning.

We had an interesting round-about-McDonald's adventure for breakfast.  We finally ended up at a McDonald's inside WalMart.  It worked well and was just perfect for us.

A view from the elevator, looking down on all the fun walkways.  Notice the atrium-like ceiling.  It helps keep the temperature controlled while allowing the plants to thrive.  Pretty cool.

This train was moving, even though they were in the middle of recreating the scene.  V thought it was pretty cool.

Prego Mom and Baby Girl.

My man.  I am so lucky and so very happy.  What blessings are mine.

This picture got misplaced somehow and I will just leave it here.  Daddy is tickling V.  She loves it and her laugh is very cute!  :)

In other news, I had a lot of contractions last night (Sunday).  They were painful, but short, but also close together.  I really don't think he is coming this early, but with CK gone next weekend it does worry me a little.  I am sure that everything will be fine!