Paint, Pustules and Prayer

I've been under the false impression that in order to make blogging worth it, each and every post had to be some sort of literary masterpiece. Since I'm not in the frame of mind for such dabblings (or babblings) I have instead chosen NOT to blog much.

I guess I forgot that this blog was originally put together so that our families and close friends could enjoy the doings and going ons of our growing family and as a sorts of "family journal". 

For those of you who are neither family nor "close" friends, keep that thought in mind as today I "dazzle" you with two very boring updates (that only a mother could love) and one rather silly story.

First, I finally took the plunge and painted our living room.

I've been itching to do it since the day we moved in but was delayed by actually closing on the house, and then a miscarriage, and then life as it generally is.  At the beginning of the summer I didn't quite make it to Home Depot's memorial day paint sale.  I was rather disappointed.  Now I would have to pay full price for paint because there was NO way I was going to wait until Labor day for their next paint sale.  Fast forward several months.  Let's just say I have a rebate coming in the mail.

Here is a before shot (which I remembered to do only after I had taped off):

 and the afters (gives a whole new meaning to accent wall, yes?):

 Now I'm sure most people would have waited to take after shots until they had cleaned up, put the furniture back, and re-decorated.  Not me.  Because I have only accomplished the first two.  Still working on the putting things back on the walls.  Give me a break.  It's only been a couple of weeks now.  :)

On another note the dreaded hand, foot and mouth disease has come to visit us. 

Kian's poor face.  If you think this looks bad you should see his sad bottom.  I did restrain from taking a picture of it and posting it here.  That would just be bad on several levels but you can take my word for it.  It's SO SAD!

Looking back, I seem to recall when Gabe had it, and again when Cael did, their cases were very similar to Kians.  My kids have gotten off fairly easy. I've seen pictures online.  This is nothing.

As you can see he's as happy as can be.  No worse for the ware.

Which is where the funny story comes in.

Yesterday as we were sitting down to dinner it was my turn to pray.  I began with several things we were grateful for, one of which being the ease our children had seen throughout this particular sickness (Gabe also got a fever and sore throat...no spots) and thanked Heavenly Father that Kian was so happy despite the discomfort and pain he must be in.  I tried to go on but Kian, who had obviously been actually listening to the words of the prayer (which caught me completely by surprise...I mean he's only 2), so rudely interrupts my prayer, by yelling out, "I NOT HAPPY!!!!!", in his loudest, grumpiest voice ever.

A few snickers here and there from the older boys but I shrugged it off and tried to continue.

Again, "I NOT HAPPY."  (snicker, snicker in the background)

I look at Rob, who was obviously waiting for my cue.  I seized the moment, setting aside my usual "must set an exceptional example" way of thinking and burst out laughing.  That set Rob off and soon we were all laughing loud and clear.  Except Kian....who was still yelling, "I NOT HAPPY."

After a few seconds of truly delightful lightheartedness (of which we do NOT see a lot of), I quieted things down and quickly finished the prayer.

Our night continued as usual, except with an air of contentedness we hadn't felt around here in a long time.  It was awesome!

So, I thank you, Mr. Golden Locks for adding a bit of lightness into our lives.  You truly are a blessing from God.  The glue that has bound our broken family back together.

I love you dearly....

even if the sight of you kinda grosses me out right now.  :) 

 

Mr.Golden Locks turns TWO!

I can't believe it.  First, that I am actually writing a blog post and two, that my baby just turned 2!  That's crazy.

And as my mom put it...."he's two...and you don't even have another one on the way....WOW!"

(Not for lack of trying...nature just has it's own way of doing things).

Anyhow....

His day was pretty, well, nondescript.  I have no excuses....okay, that's not true.

Excuse #1  We are moving in a week

Excuse #2  My entire house flooded the day before.

So...give the lady a break.

But...we had all the essentials.

Kian's favorite dinner...check.  Kian's favorite dessert....check.  Balloons....check.  Presents....check.  Happy Birthday song...check.  Monster trucks....check. What more could a kid want.  Nothing.  At least not this kid.

The kid didn't even eat dessert.  He was content to just play with his "karz".

 Here he is today during nap time...enjoying the pillow/sleeping bag bear Grandma and Grandpa H. gave him.

He was pretty excited to snuggle in with them.  :)

Happy Birthday Kiddo.  You are the "glue" and a true joy to our family (even if you are acting your age a lot right now).  

WE LOVE YOU BUDDY!

 

Tired as can be.

Poor tired kiddo.  You would think with daylight savings these kids would be sleeping in a little later.  Nope....not this one, anyway.  He woke up at 4:45AM (I was later informed by Rob) this particular morning (making it 3:45AM pre daylight savings time).  Poor thing was utterly exhausted by noon.

The kids had been watching a movie.  When it was over, I went looking for them.  I found them, minus Kian, playing in their bedroom.  "Where's Kian?"  "I don't know?"

I found him here.  As tuckered out as can be.  So...at first tried to gently wake him.  Then...I "tortured" him.  Mean mommy!



I think I may have found the culprit for the early morning escapades and the late night crying.  Molars!  Great! 

What happened to my baby?

Kian got himself ready to go play in the snow.

Kian is in an interesting position as the 4th boy.  I feel like he has grown up too fast.  Leaps and bounds faster than his older brothers did.

Not only does he want to DO everything that his older bros are doing, but he wants to SAY everything they are saying.   It very sad sometimes.  I often think...."What happened to my baby?  He's not old enough to be talking to me like this."

Some of his latest phrases crack me up...and scare me at the same time.  :)

Here are a few:
"Mooooooom" (and also, rarely, "Daaaaaaaaad") said in a "stop teasing me" embarrassed kinda way (he picked it up from Cael, who embarrasses easily).  He says it often...including EVERY time one drives over a rumble strip on the road.  Makes for pretty interesting...and sometimes annoying...traveling when you are headed to the middle of nowhere (which we have done a lot lately) on two lane roads that are full of them.   :)

"Da naw faya" (That's not fair)  Often times added to the above.  As in "Moooooom....da naw faya"

"Whyyyyyy?" not in a inquisitive sort of way...but a snotty teenager kinda way.  Enough said......scary!


Funny story.

Kian LOVES the water.  He always has....right from the beginning.  This weekend we stayed in a hotel with a pool.  The kids were dying to go swimming.  Especially Kian.  He has NO FEAR!  After a few minutes of watching his brothers jump off the edge into the water he wanted to do it too, with or without Rob and I there to catch him.  We had to keep a constant watch on him.  He would ask to be put up on the edge and then scurry off, as fast as possible, to try to jump off the edge before Rob or I could get to him.  Luckily we were able to keep up...no drowning.  When we finally had to leave the pool he cried for over 30 minutes.  Sobs racked his body and he kept wailing, "waer........Waer.........WAER!"  (water, Water, WATER).  Poor thing hadn't had a nap.  :)

We love our little Kian.  He's turned out to be just what we prayed for.  Yeah, I realize that I might have to eat those words one day....but for now....they are so true.

Shake, shake, shake....shake your booty

We used to dance a lot around here.  It doesn't happen nearly enough anymore.  But...for some reason, on this particular morning, we let down our hair, dusted off our rusty bones and shook, shook, shook our booty's.

Here are a few snippets of Kian, Gabe and Isaac as proof.

And yes....the old Reebok Step is STILL the favorite dance platform (see bottom video).

Yeah....we've got culture

21 month Mr. Golden Locks has been walking around the house for days singing,

"Hallelujah. Hallelujah.  (Pause) Mama Mia (in an Italian accent, of course)"

The first, courtesy of a month worth of Christmas music, and the latter....from the scintillating tunes of Super Mario Brothers. 

It's hilarious!
Just one easy click!

Will comply, for shoes...

There's two things to know about Mr. Golden Locks.

He just learned to say the word "No!"....at 19 months.  Surprising.  (I mean, it's not like that word has been used sparingly around here.) 

Also...this boy LOVES shoes.

My other boys loved shoes....but Mr. Golden Locks LIVES for shoes.  He has someone's shoes on (if not his) ALL. OF. THE. TIME!

Sometimes this can be quite bothersome to me (especially when he is squealing because he can't get them on)....but sometimes I use it to my advantage.

For instance...yesterday morning.

Me:  "Hey [Mr. Golden Locks], let's go get dressed."

MGL:  "NO!"  (loud, sharp, and to the point)

Frustration...and then....*BING*...lightbulb!

Me:  "[Mr. Golden Locks], let's go get dressed and then we can put your shoes on."

You should have seen his face explode in excitement.  He booked it to his room faster than I have ever seen him move before (which is sayin' a lot).

BINGO!

Every once in a while the "lights of mothering genius" do shine down on this mama. (here's another such instance...in case you're new here or missed it before.)

Just found this goodie....he's so darn cute (note the shoe).


Just one easy click!

Serious choking hazard....

We ran a ton of errands today.  The kids were exhausted.

We finished up at Costco....I bribed them with hot dogs (our monthly routine).

We got out to the car when I realized I had forgotten a knife to cut Mr. Golden Locks section (he get's about a 1/3 of one of his bros) of "dog" up.

I was not about to go back inside.  So...against my better judgement...I gave it to him....whole.

"He'll chew it," I reasoned with myself.  (Uh huh....)

He was remarkably quiet on the way home (of course, they are usually pretty quiet when they are stuffing their faces) but after hearing soft snoring I realized he had fallen asleep.  Poor thing.

I looked back in my rear view mirror and saw this....

Can't see it?

How about NOW?

When I called his name...he stirred a bit...chomped down a few times...then promptly fell asleep again.

We got home...I got him out of his car seat and took him inside.  I tried to take out the piece of hot dog...except it wasn't really a piece at all.

Yeah, that's right.  He shoved the ENTIRE thing into his mouth and this (above) is what wouldn't fit.  

It made me laugh and scared me at the same time.

I coaxed him into spitting it out in the sink. 

He was none too happy to see it go. 

I am very lucky nothing serious happened to him.

Let's just say that I will NEVER be doing that again.  EVER!   


Just one easy click!

Huggies and Heroes...

Huggies Slip On's---What's your take?

Well, here's mine.

To be honest, I don't normally buy Huggies diapers.  As a first time mom I experienced severe absorbency issues (newborn boys maybe?) and in babies more recent...allergy rashes.  I'm just not a huge fan. 

But...I thought I would give these puppies a try and ended up scoring them for only $3.99/Jumbo pack (using some mad couponing skills)...hoping, of course, that the newborn skin sensitivity was a thing of the past for Mr. Golden Locks.  

(Warning:  Possible soap box moment below)

While they have generally been fine, I have had concerns with the snuggness of their fit.  The whole add campaign revolves around easy diapering for the active baby.  I find that simply slipping them on does not secure them to the babies form and therefore having to take the time to undo and readjust the "adjustable straps" then deafeats the purpose of their whole creation.  Am I right?  I mean, if you then have to lay them down in order to adjust the velcro-ish thing-y's (because let's face it, in my experience, no active baby is going to stand still long enough for you to adjust them without trying to run off, right?) then Huggies whole campaign is blown out of the water, right?

(Excuse me while I step down...)

So...as a stubborn consumer, hail bent on using the product as intended (whether or not it actually works), I haven't been making the adjustment (pure laziness on my part).  

Let's just say that there has been a whole lotta' butt crack going on over here as of late. 

Other than that, no real problems.....

Until today.

I'm cleaning up after lunch and "Mini Rob" comes into the kitchen, "Mom...Mom...Moooooooooom....come here, come here, come here."

"Just a second,"  I say in typical "mommy's concentrating on something else" fashion.

He persists....

So do I.  

Then I get a feeling (I call them "Mommy Revelations")......and think, maybe I should listen to him.

"Okay [Mini Rob] what do you want to show me."

"Come here....come here."

He drags me off to the toy room.  When we reach the outskirts (aka the door) he pauses, points towards the corner, and says,  "Look."

I do as I am told. 

There I find Mr. Golden Locks squatting down...playing with some toys...with the "Niagara Falls of Poop" cascading forth from the back of his diaper.

I spring into action.  

Running over to Mr. Locks, I grab him around the waist, swing him upside down and start yelling orders as I sprint over to the "changing area"...."'Little Red' towel....'Mini Rob' garbage bag....'You' (pointing at the little Mr.) stop wiggling.  Hold still.  NOW!"  

The crisis was soon over, damages assessed....a sigh of relief.  

It could have been much worse.  The blob of brown goo was quickly loosing ground....gravity was winning....it could have ended up on the floor, and who knows how far it could have been tracked then.

Sigh...

"Mini Rob" wins Hero of the Day!   Thank you for you attentiveness and saving me from a lot of grief.  

Thank you Heavenly Father for sending me a "Mommy Revelation" to remind me that maybe, just maybe I should listen to my children every once and a while (and therefore be saved a lot of anxiety and work).

As for the diapers....not super impressed.  But...be as it might, I have two packages left....I guess I will just have to make the most of them (and pray for the best).

So...have you tried them out?  What do you think?

Just one easy click!

Our little girl....

Doesn't he make the most beautiful girl?  Thanks for the elastics Lessa.

 I had 2 people at Costco today (within minutes of each other) mention something about my "little girl."  Come to think of it, someone mentioned it on Sunday as well.  Maybe it's time to cut off the curls.  But...I just can't.  I don't think I'm ready. 

Mr. Golden Locks LOVES the camera...and G-McBabe LOVES Mr. Golden Locks.

They are so funny together.

Notice something missing (other than the other two boys)?  Yep, that's right.  G-McBabe lost his two front teeth.  It's so cute.  I love it.

I love them...and I'm even liking them a lot right now.

This last week has been a "zero screen time" week at our house (which means, no movies, no tv, no video games, no computer games).  Mini Rob is REALLY feeling the effects.  So...he took matters into his own hands.

Me- "Hey [Mini Rob], what 'cha doin'?"

Mini Rob-"Watchen' a movie....on the puter (computer)."

 

(Hilarious boy.  He even got his animals lined up watching the "movie" with him.)

 after I took these shots I heard...

"Okay mom...now can you take a picture of me?"

 

 (Such a handsome, photogenic boy.  I love him.  

This is one of those pictures that I look at and can picture what he might look like as a teenager or adult.)

Then I take the camera out to take pictures for my couponing blog and Mr. Golden Locks comes toddling over saying "sheeeessss"....."sheeeeesssss" ("Cheese").  

I guess he wanted his picture taken too.  :) 

I just love this little bundle of joy.  Such a spunky little turkey. 

Mr.Golden Locks is ONE!

 

It's crazy to think that the last year has flown by so fast.  It amazes me that Mr. Golden Locks is one.

He's an adorable little boy with lots of spunk and personality.  Whether or not he wants to display it, now that is the question.  He is generally pretty quiet and enjoys toddling after his brothers, looking at books and playing with cars.

He has always enjoyed jabbering (at the dinner table mostly) and was the earliest of my boys to start walking (11 1/2 months).  He says a few distinguishable words and knows an animal sound or two.

He can say:

*  "Dada"
*  "MAAAAAM"  (not a cute, quiet, or sweet "mama" from this boy).  Think of the most annoyingly cute way your child could yell MOM and that would be pretty close to the way Mr. Golden Locks calls me.
*  "GAAAAAAAABE"  (also said with the same type of inflection as "maaaaaaam").  Apparently he has heard me call loudly for G-McBabe too many times.
*  "nigh nigh" ("night night") while he waves.
*  "bye bye"  (sort of)
*  Jesus (just started working on that one)
*  He also knows the duck says "quack quack"

He loves his brothers to pieces (when they are not tormenting him) and they love him as well.

When I was pregnant I prayed that Mr. Golden Locks would be the binding glue our family so desperately needed and he has been just that.  Everyone loves him very much and he loves us all in return.  His birth/his life has been a great catalyst for some much needed family healing.

On to the BIG day....

His party was very low key (Rob and the older three had just gotten home from their weekend trip to Spokane).  We sang "Happy Birthday" (with help from family on Skype), he tried to blow out his candle and was successful with a bit of help from his BIGGEST bro G-McBabe, and dug in to his cake (for a few seconds at least).  It was fun.

WE LOVE YOU!

AND HE'S OFF......

Been in the works for a week or so. My earliest to date (11 1/2 months).  I can't believe it!

 Attempt  #1

Attempt #2....SUCCESS!

He's one determined little guy.  That must be why he conquered this particular milestone so soon.  He wants to be up and running with his big brothers.  He is such a joy and delight to us all.  He is SO LOVED!