Merry Christmas, errr, Happy Halloween

Well Halloween is over and the 3 kiddos are all pooped-out and soundly sleeping. If I wasn't going to be feeding Emmy in the next hour or so, I would be soundly sleeping myself. But since I am up I might as well blog some of the events of today.


We started it out by some yummy treats for the kiddos - it makes sense, right, since they wouldn't be getting like a whole bucket-full of treats tonite??? But they liked, alright loved, their candy-corn painted pots with, what else, candy corns.



They got to watch a movie during the day - Miles' 2nd time ever watching a movie during the day and Jonas' first, so it was a special occasion. They had watched about 45 minutes of the movie (3/4) when I started to hear a lot of laughing and giggling going on. I thought it was due to the movie, so I went in. No, they'd given up on the movie and were just having fun wrestling each other. It was really cute.


For our "pre-dinner dinner" (dinner was served at the church party, but that wasn't going to be until 7) we had Halloween Quesadillas. They look a little funny - okay, a lot funny - because I only had white cheese on hand and so we food-colored the cheese! Haha. The boys had fun eating them.


Then we went to our church party. We had a trunk-or-treat - which, in case you don't know, is where the kiddos go trick-or-treating to all the car-trunks lined up and decorated in the parking lot. I hung out with Emmy giving out treats while Ben took the 2 boys. He said Jonas didn't say a word. Jonas gets like that when shy or in new environments. But they of course loved getting all that candy. After trunk-or-treating we went inside the church for dinner, a "parade" of the kids on the stage, and a magic show. It was a fun day, but exhausting. Here are some pics of our cutes elves and our little present

Santa's 2 Elves

Miles and Jonas at our house. We don't know what they are doing, but for some reason they are both picking at their mouths????

And here they are after getting a lotta treats. How fun. Jonas wanted a sucker and Miles wanted "stinky feet" (some chewy feet-shaped candy).

Emmy

In case you can't tell Emmy is in a stocking and, of course, has a bow on her head. A present indeed.

Jonas

Like I already mentioned Jonas was pretty much silent during his trunk-or-treating experience. But when we got home we had some trick-or-treaters come to our home. After they left and Jonas saw Ben with some candy in his hand, Jonas belted out, "TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT."

What a goofy picture! For some reason Ben absolutely loves this picture. :) It looks nothing like Jonas, but is cute. I think he actually looks quite elfish in the picture.

Miles

He loved all of his "jingle bells" and didn't want to take his costume off tonite. He was such a cute and fun elf.

In case you are wondering how to make candy corns, Miles explained it all to me this morning: "You take yellow cheese for the bottom part, oranges for the middle, and white cheese for the top." Hmmmm, I think I'll stick with Brach's recipe.

New layout

so i checked out my cousin's blog today and noticed that both she and her sister, nicole, have a cute layout for their blogs. so i borrowed their link and changed mine, too. i just wanted to give credit where credit is due.

p.s. so erin - can you fix my heading and put back the faces??? :)

A least they have protein and other random comments

so ben cooked up some 6-grain cereal on saturday for us to enjoy. (yes, kristen, i am sure this reminds you of the lovely smell when i would cook my wheat cereal in the dorms.) so yesterday i am enjoying it until i got about 3/4 of the way done and notice a bug in my cereal. i start searching around and find another one - needless to say, i am pretty grossed out by it. we couldn't find any in ben's cereal, the uncooked stuff, nor the rest of the cooked stuff. i didn't eat any more of my bowl.

then obviously i had forgotten about that episode this morning because i heated up some more of that cereal. and this time i got about 2/3 of the way through eating it and, yes, i see another bug. i searched around and found another one. yuuucghk. sheesh, what a way to start out my monday.

on to the next thing.

so jonas' favorite phrase of the past couple weeks have been "don't like it." that's fine - he's almost 2. but what happened today at lunch happens just about every meal/snack time. so i set down lunch (omelet strips with ketchup to dip in) and of course jonas declares, "don't like it." then he proceeds to eat all of his strips with no complaints. then miles is "full" and gives jonas his last strip. jonas again declares "don't like it." but he ate it up.

question of the day:

miles (out of the blue) - "Mom, what is flowergasket?"

me - "flowerbasket??"

miles - "no, flowergasted."

me - "Uh!? Oh, where did you hear that!?"

miles - "the elves book."

me - "Oh. It means really, really, really surprised."

needless to say, i was flabbergasted.

weird

so becoming a mom makes you say things you thought you would never say. i'm not talking about things your mother said that you swore you'd never say - cuz really you knew would end up saying them. just off-the-wall weird things that you never thought of before.

like the past few days i have been saying things like this to miles: "If you don't eat the pumpkin [candy corn style pumpkin] I'm going to take it away from you." I'm actually threatening my kid if he doesn't eat his candy. Why you ask? Because he will play, and play, and play with his "candy toy" f . . . o . . . r. . . e . . . v . . . e . . . r.

case in point: i gave him a pumpkin about an hour ago, right after lunch. he is now sitting in his quiet corner (not time-out, just where he goes for nap/quiet time) and talking and playing with his pumpkin. he hasn't eaten it yet. and it's not because he doesn't looooove candy. it's probably more due to the fact that he's Three and Weird. but arent' we all - not Three, of course, but Weird?

so what do you do that's weird??? i'll be the first one to comment.

The Pumpkin Patch

Miles and Jonas with perfect-sized pumpkins.
















Miles absolutely loved the literal haystack! He fell down twice from the very top and just toppled and rolled down. He had a surprised & scared face each time - but it didn't stop him.












We had a really fun hay ride. It was quite bumpy at times and I was glad to have Emmy nice 'n snug in my trusty sling. It also gave me a chance to hold hands with my 2nd True Love.



Awwww, my 1st and 3rd True Loves. I pick them good.

















Miles pulling the wagon and Jonas pushing.












Don't they look sweet? I bet they would make a tasty pumpkin pie. The 2 boys are pretty sweet, too.


























A fun picture of all of us minus Ben. Plus a picture showing that Emmy was indeed there and greatly enjoyed her festive first outing to the pumpkin patch - by sleeping, of course.

Words cannot describe how much I do love fall - and my family o' five.

Made for Baby Bliss

So each pregnancy and subsequent births I have seen a plethora of new baby products. There are probably hundreds of new patents each day for new baby items. I find many of them very interesting, beautiful, creative, helpful, etc. Unfortunately, many of them are also very expensive. So I don't get too many new baby "fads." But with each child I have bought into some of the fads - the lower-priced fads, of course!

For Miles I got the Boppy. I love it. It comes in handy for nursing. It is also quite helpful for holding babies who want to sleep and be held - at the same time. Miles and Emmy slept a lot of their first nites with Ben and the trusty Boppy. It's also great for propping up babes so they can see a little more than the boring ceiling. I don't know what I would have done without it. Okay, maybe used a pillow. . .

For Jonas I got a Moses Basket. Since we were transients the first 3 1/2 months of his life this was definitely nice. I could put Jonas to sleep in any room. Emmy also used the basket for the first 6 weeks of her life - while we were transitioning Jonas from taking naps in our closet (!) to his and Miles' bedroom. Now that we have a crib and a Jonas-free bedroom at naptime, the basket is no longer needed. But I still don't know what I would have done without it. Okay, maybe used the floor. . .

Now for Emmy we splurged and bought a Bumbo. I first saw this thing at my friends' house about a year ago. I thought it looked great and was excited about it - until I saw it was $40. I thought that a little expensive for a piece of . . . blob. But we got a Target card from Ben's work friends and, among some other things, purchased a blob, I mean Bumbo. It is used to sit your babes up once they have head-control - around 3 months. I have put Emmy in it a few times already for a few minutes and already I LOVE it. I can't wait until she has great head control and I can put her up on the counter, the dinner table, the bathroom counter, etc. It's brilliantly designed. I don't know what I would have done without it. Okay, maybe used the carseat. . .

But seriously, the Boppy is a unique "pillow" and its shape is what is so key and helpful. The basket makes you feel like you are at least providing a bed for your new little babe - as opposed to the floor. And I don't know about you, but ALL my babes pretty much hate their car seats and cry very LOUDLY and A LOT when in it - so I think the Bumbo will be worth it.

So what items could you not do without - or at least think you could not do without????

More Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from Sunday:

Everybody that was there for the weekend.

Four generations on my side.























Ben's Favorite Babes.
















Mommy and Her Babe.

Special Sunday

Hopefully I will get a few better pictures (our camera - thus our photos - had a smudgy-fingerprint [hmmm, my guess is Jonas' finger!!!] that ruined most of our pictures), but I still wanted to write about our wonderful Sunday.

Ben's parents and my parents, as well as my Grandma Phyllis, came over for the weekend. That in and of itself was wonderful.

On Saturday I took Miles and Emmy to the church for the Primary's program practice. It scared me for what might be on Sunday! No, Miles was not the only Sunbeam out of his seat. Yes, he was the only Sunbeam running all over; saying loudly and over and over "Is it my turn yet?" exclaiming from his seat "I love you Mommy (yes, I LOVED that part!); and, yes, even turning on and off the chapel lights. I was told by a Primary leader to not worry, that Miles usually does very well on their Sunday practices.

So then Sunday came. We first of all had a baby's blessing for Emmy. She looked so sweet in her dress - the same dress that my sister and I wore for our baby blessings many moons ago. How neat is that?! She did great during her blessing by sleeping the entire time. I was told the blessing was beautiful (I did not doubt that), but was occupied in trying to maintain Peace in the Pew with Jonas - I was victorious with Jonas, but didn't catch the blessing. Luckily notes were taken and Ben typed it up last nite - it was very sweet.

Then the primary program. With a little bribery ("If you do a really good job staying in your seat then you can have jelly-bellies after sacrament meeting.") Miles stayed in his seat - well at least on and near it. For some reason he quite frequently licked and gnawed at the seat in front of him during many of the songs. Whatever, he was being quiet. The Sunbeams' parts were practically at the very end and Miles was the last Sunbeam to go, so it was a long program. :) But when it came time for Miles' turn to speak, he spoke VERY LOUDLY and clearly - and the proud mama has to mention All By Himself with no prompting - into the microphone, "My family can follow Jesus Christ by choosing the right." There was a nice chuckle from the congregation when he finished. He was adorable. I wish I could have taped it. Just imagine every word ending in a loud and high note - that's how he did it. LOVED IT. Jonas added his two-cents when Miles finished speaking and said, "choosing the right," just loud enough for the family to hear.

It was a fun day and we were glad to have our folks and Grandma Phyllis over - it was just too short. Kind of like me.

My Sleepy Heads

So for a long time Ben would always go in and peek at the boys before we headed off for bed. For a while I just didn't feel the need to - I thought, "I've seen them all day and evening, I don't need another look at them." Ha! But a few months ago I started going in with Ben and peeking at our boys. It's a good thing. No matter how many "NO," "MINE," time-outs, tantrums, fits, pushes, shoves, steals, angry bursts, messes, broken items, ruined things, spilled milk, torn books, and non-listening ears, seeing them sound asleep reminds me that I really do love them a whole lot and that they are, indeed, sweet and precious.

JONAS

MILES

BABYLICIOUS

i have no reason for posting this except to show off my favorite little girl. i bought (well, okay, technically my mother bought) this wonderful dress from etsy - i love that site. i took emmy to conference with me (at our stake center) this morning and thought i would "dress" her up. she didn't wear the bonnet and booties to church, but we had to do that for the photo shoot.

as we were looking at miles' baby book the other nite before the boys' bedtime, ben and i realized that there is a little bit of miles in emmy, too. she still looks especially like jonas as a baby, but she does have a little miles in her, too.

basically she's a perfect blend. ohhhhh, i think we are ALL glad we got a little girl from heaven sent to us.

BENLICIOUS

My sister told me about this website and she and I had a lot of fun with it!!! But. . . Ben and I also had a lot of fun with it, too. Enjoy my hubby pics - WHOA-MAN.

p.s. i'm not as internet -savvy as my sister and so i don't know how to make the pictures into a neat slide show. so you get the pictures as well as the other "stuff." sorry!

A short up-date on a short family

I just thought I would do a little update and post some pics since I haven't had any exciting posts lately - since, ummmm, we haven't really been up to any exciting things. Not that this post will be exciting. Anyways. . .




Emmy is just dandy. She still really likes to be held a lot during the day (thank goodness for my sling!), but does dang good at nite for the most part. I have never had a baby do so well so early. I am technically only waking up once at nite to feed her - but that is because I am going to be late (around 11) and getting up early (5:30) nursing her. She caught her brothers' cold and has a cough. Her dad tells her a dozen times a day how "beautiful" she is - and she is.











Jonas is a goof. He makes us all laugh with his silliness. He can speak in practically full sentences. Yesterday he said to me, "Don't sit on bear, mama." I didn't. He loves to be at our desk and mess up our computer by typing on the keyboard. He also likes to say "no," "why mommy?" and "go away." "Go away" is one of my favorite! The other day I was out with the kiddos helping them ride a tricycle. As I was helping Jonas take a turn and having my hand on the handle bars, I was politely told to "Go away mama." I was laughing! Jonas also told Miles to "go away" today at lunch time when Miles joined him on his seat. Jonas did, however, let Miles stay for the meal. :)

Miles can be so fun and sweet - but he can also drive me insane. But I love him all the same. He has a part in the primary program and so I started rehearsing his line with him a couple of weeks ago. About the 3rd day of practicing I started off the sentence, "My family. . ." and Miles finished it off ". . . can follow Jesus Christ by choosing the right." We'll see how he does in the program! His favorite word lately has been "interesting." Yesterday he was being babysat while I ran off for some help at the hospital (more on that on my section). While they were watching some trucks out the window he said "That front-end loader is very interesting." No, Miles, you are very interesting. :)

Ben is busy as always with work, church, and family. He does a great job in helping me out and encouraging me to take "breaks" and such. He bought his very own life-jacket at our local consignment store and wishes he could be out sailing. He's now skinnier than he was when we were first married (I think?). I wish I could eat like him and lose weight. Boys are crazy.

I am doing "fine." Isn't that how we are supposed to answer? But really I have been quite. . . miserable. Still having nursing troubles. Thank goodness for orajel, though. Orajel is benzocaine for teething babies - apply to their gums and hopefully the pain will ease. Well Ben suggested I try it on me and that is how I have maybe only cried like twice in the past 2 days (instead of every nursing session and every time I thought about nursing!). It's not perfect and probably has some downfalls - like I think Emmy's latch gets a little lax towards the end of nursing - going numb I'm sure doesn't feel too grand for Emmy. And I know that not having a perfect latch won't help things, but honestly it is the only way I can now stand nursing: being "drugged" on orajel. :) I did go to the hospital yesterday for my 2nd lactation consulting and was told that it appears Emmy has a really good latch. So why all the cracks???? I can't imagine it all due to thrush. But I was loaned out a pump - for free! - and will try and pump a little bit each day and then feed her a bottle. (When I pump I can OD on the orajel and have a pain-free experince, as opposed to using as little as possible and then wiping it off before I nurse Emmy. Too much info???) I'm hoping the pumping will let me heal some. Anyways, that's me.

And that's us. Not such a short up-date, really!