Mother's Day Week: Sisters in law

Not only have I been blessed with 4 great sisters (I left my 10 year old sister Claire out of my last post because I don't really consider her a woman yet, and thought it would be weird to wish her a happy Mother's Day.), but I've also been greatly blessed with many wonderful and beautiful sisters in law as well.

Kimberly,

Intelligent, athletic, thoughtful and kind. Makes an excellent pie. Really fun and easy to be around. A hard worker, like the rest of her family.

Stacey,

Sweet, gentle, and loving. A great example of spiritual strength and patient mothering.

Dusti,

Stylish and girly. Thoughtful. A great listener. The perfect hostess, she always has all the great finishing touches, great food, and the little extras that make every gathering special.

Andrea,

Always put together. Her children always look perfect. Talented with hair. Cute home. Organized and thoughtful and helpful. I think she does my dishes every time she comes over!

Jennifer,

So sweet and lovable. The kids gravitate to her. An avid reader. Always taking pictures of all the kids at our Sunday dinners.

Not the best picture, and Andrea and I are pregnant in it, but it's all the P* family sisters.

Michelle,

Talented masseuse and reiki master. Sensitive and loving. Appreciates nature and the magic of the universe.

Lauren, (picture stolen from her blog.)

So stylish. Her clothes, her home, fabulous! Preparing for a career in interior design. Sweet and soft spoken in person, and oulandishly funny in blogland. Not to mention, practically famous in the world of blogs and Twilight fans!

I can't express how lucky I am to have these women in my life. I feel I have connected with each of them in a unique way and they have all helped me since they have been in my life. I love you and couldn't be happier with the sisters that marriage has brought me. Thank you for being there for me always. I hope you each have an incredible Mother's Day and know that you are amazing women! My one complaint-it's hard on the self esteem being surrounded by these lovelies all the time, including my real sisters!

Mother's Day Week: Sisters

This week I want to highlight the wonderful women in my life. They may not all be mothers, but they have the mother heart.

First of all, my sisters.

Sarah, my eldest. A beautiful single mother to 3 of the handsomest and most hilarious boys you've ever seen. Funny. Stylish. And awesome at scrapbooking.

Emily, 3 years older than me. I thought she and her friends were so cool. She introduced me to Billy Joel and country music. She is very forward. Definitely has an opinion. Gorgeous and skinny (like our mom). Wonderful mother to 2 darling, silly kids that I wish I could see more of.

Karen, 3 years younger than me. Not yet a mother, but has always been a baby lover and will make a great mom one day! Beautiful (it's a trend with my sisters to be skinny and gorgeous)! My kids absolutely adore her. Smart and attracts people. She is full of potential.

I love my sisters! Happy Mother's Day girls!

Time for me to shake it up and do some new tricks

I never made any new year's resolutions. I didn't really feel like it. But today, at this moment, I feel the need and the desire for changes in my life. There are so many things I need to improve on that this could be a very long post. So I will stick to a few.

Spiritually:

-Start having consitant Family Home Evenings every Monday night, with a lesson and everything. (Any suggestions for where to get fun ideas for little kidlets would be great) I am thinking I would like to get a felt board.

-Scripture study every day (I've been seriously neglecting this.)

-Praying more frequently and sincerely

Physically:

-Running three evenings a week. My friend Kathi and I are supposed to start tonight! I am actually excited. We went Thursday and while I have little endurance right now. We walked/jogged a little and then did some sprints at the field by the park. It got me sore and excited to get stronger and more fit.

-Eating well, drinking water, and cooking healthy meals for my family

-Smiling more and getting dressed before 1pm might be good for me too.

Personally:

-Show more patience, kind words, and personal attention to each person in our home.

-Work on developing skills and talents (find time to draw, sew, and learn)

-Be a better house keeper and make a schedule to help me

Like I said I could go on and on. I feel like it is important to write this down while I am really wanting to improve. So in a week when I might not be feeling it as much I can remind myself.

Family Picture wall-finally

I've been wanting to do this for a long time. It's a big wall so I figure I can keep adding around these. I want a P* for one of those empty frames.

Did I forget to mention

That Tucker has been riding a bike without training wheels for a couple of weeks now. He can't get enough. He likes jumping the "curves" (curbs) and even riding standing up.

Henry enjoyed talking to his new friend in the reflection of the window.

Paisley has been pulling herself up to stand next to anything she can reach for about two weeks as well. It still cracks me up to find her standing in her crib, thinking she's all big.

More costumes and more tricks.

Every princess needs a buddy

I couldn't refuse when Charlotte and Henry each approached me with a princess dress in their hands to help them put on. At least Henry's is blue, right?

I miss nursing my baby.

*Feel free to skip this super long post about my breastfeeding .


My first two children, I chose to and was able to nurse for about 14 months each. I enjoyed it. It was a blessing. It came very easily to me and I had few problems. The engorgement with my first baby was very painful. I mean nothing could have prepared me for it. Luckily I had my mom there heating wet towels in the microwave for me and laying them across my chest. It only lasted a few days though and after that I had a wonderful experience with nursing ( okay, I also had one bout of mastitis which was no fun either). It was so handy and convenient and I was not one to be ashamed of nursing in public. That being the case I waited too long to introduce a bottle and never pushed the issue and then did feel a little tied down by nursing because none of my first three children ever took to a bottle. Since there was no neccesity for them to take one, I figured it was only months of their lives and mine and we weren't missing much by not having any bottles in the picture. It was especially handy when I never had to wean them from a bottle. They went straight from the breast to sippy cups. They never took pacifiers either, so it was one less thing to worry about as far as I was concerned.



With Henry (my third) I got pregnant when he was only 5 months old (woops). I sensed that my milk supply was low and tried a little harder to get him to supplement with bottles with no luck. When he was about 7 months old we had a check up and discovered that he hadn't gained any weight for a couple of months. We also found out that he had several allergies and was probably not absorbing the nutrients from my milk because I was eating all the things he was allergic to. At that time my mom kindly allowed me to go with Trent to Seattle for a weekend so that she could get Henry on a bottle. Even with me gone for 2 nights he never took to a bottle. My mom was giving him solids and sips of soy formula from a cup since he would have nothing to do with a bottle nipple. I came home and started trying soft top sippy cups (the nuby's). He finally realized that I wasn't offering him the breast anymore and took to the soy formula, but never would do a bottle. But I was still glad that I had gotten 7 good months of breastfeeding with him.


This time around with my little Paisley has been so different. I was able to breastfeed several times after she was first born. But after a few hours she had to be moved into the "special care" nursery. They would bring her in my room to feed, but I was still released a couple of days before her. I would drive back to the hospital for most of her feedings, but with 3 other kids I decided to stay home during the night and just leave my milk for her. So Paisley was able to drink from a bottle very early. Although she clearly preferred nursing, as did I. The nurses told me that when they would pull out the bottle, they could tell she was a nurser because she would root around on the bottle with her mouth all wide and she didn't like latching on to the small nipples. So when we got her home I didn't bottle feed her for weeks. But then I started having problems with bleeding nipples and all of that. I was pumping to let my nipples heal and feeding her my milk in bottles. I noticed my milk was not filling her up. I started supplementing. My nipples were feeling somewhat relieved and tried nursing again. It was never the same. I didn't have enough milk anymore. I tried herbal supplements to boost my supply. Paisley had an allergic reaction, getting red and blotchy. I tried pumping in between feedings. Nothing worked, my body was done. I had gotten about 3 months of nursing in, I had to accept that was all. It was hard. It is still hard. I hate reading the bold words on the formula cans Breastmilk is best for babies. I know that. It's best for me too. But it's just not happening anymore. I hate that I can't give her any more of what I used to call "comfort sucks" when she is upset. Sometimes I want so badly just to pull her to me and feed her the way I used to. But I can't. I am sure I miss it more than she does. I always thought it was so divine( I use that word because I think we are so perfectly designed by our Creator) that I could continue to provide for my baby everything she could ever need for 6 full months after she left the womb. I know it isn't for everyone, but I've always loved it. I will enjoy the fact that I can go out occasionally and let Trent put the baby to bed. I will enjoy the fact that I can feed my baby without leaving sacrament meeting. I know that my baby and I will be just as bonded as any other mother is to her breastfed child, but all the same I will miss it.

My first monster doll

I have enjoyed seeing the funny moster dolls such as these, this one, and these ugly dolls that are all over right now. I thought it looked simple enough that I could probably make my own. Then when Abbie made hers, I thought, okay I can do it! Here is my first attempt.

Recent Highlights

Last week Charlotte got to go bowling with her Grandma Terrie, Aunt Dusti and some of her cousins. Here she is all ready to go.

Tucker is doing wonderfully in school. He loves learning. This sign he made and taped to his bedroom door cracked me up.

Just in case you didn't get that, it says Dimand facktree (Diamond Factory).

Tucker started soccer season and he is doing great. He is not at all as timid as the last 2 seasons. Hooray! Here are his biggest fans (and of course the one taking the picture would be his #1 fan).

I never get pictures of Paisley in her flower clips I make her. So I finally remembered to. I can't make bows, but I'm pretty handy with a glue gun.

We had a great time celebrating my MIL's birthday yesterday. Paisley was showing off all her newest tricks. She is already crawling on her hands and knees (and only 6 months old! ) I'm impressed. She can also sit up all by herself from laying down and can remain sitting as long as she wants. She's mastered it so quickly! Wow, she is growing up so fast. What happened to my tiny baby?

She started doing this funny face after my flash kept going off.

Here she is with her cousin Weston who is just 6 weeks older than her.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Chillin on the trampoline. Granma feeding Henry sips of water while he rests against Grandpa's legs, while Charlotte hugs Grandpa. Cute, right?

The 6 month stats

Paisley had her check up Friday. The hour and 15 minute wait, just about had me in angry tears, but we made it.

All is well with Paisley. Her head circ. and weight were in the 50th percentile (16 lbs. 5 oz.) and her height of 26 and 3/4 inches put her around the 75th percentile there. Shocking for a family of shrimps.
We are starting to feed her cereal twice and day now, and I think it is helping her sleep longer, hooray! Last night she didn't wake up to eat until 5:45. I was elated!

My dear little Paisley,
You are so beautiful. I think your cheeks surpass any of the other babies I've had. it is difficult to keep my lips off of those squishy things. You are so mobile. Although you aren't doing a real crawl yet, you do just about everything else to move you around a room. Rolling, scooting, and worming. You've been scooting backwards for weeks, and are just now starting to get a little bit of forward motion. We all enjoy watching your every move. Henry always wants to be near you. Or on top of you. I am pretty sure you'll be best friends. He makes you laugh better than anyone. You are so funny, bouncing like crazy in your Johnny-jump-up and squealing with delight. Your legs are the perfect size of chub. We still wrap you up sometimes to sleep, since you have always felt calm that way. You can sit on your own for short periods of time now and can almost get yourself into that sitting position without any help. You push yourself into so many positions from your belly, it's quite impressive.

We love you so much and are so happy that you have come to our family. I wasn't sure how our young family would handle another baby so soon. You have brought more love and more joy to each of us. We are so blessed to have you in our home.

I love you my sweet little "Pastry".

~Your momma

So many lovely things

Check out some of the things I've been adoring on Etsy this week. How cute is this fabric!? http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21422564

Or this retro children's rocker chair? http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21290406

Or this darling green lamp?
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22698480

These remind me of my Grandma Donna's old house. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22196818

I wish I could spend hundreds of dollars on fabrics and funky decor.

Spring Break has come and gone

Thursday after dinner we headed up to Christopher Creek, where some friends of ours are kind enough to let us use their lovely cabin. We enjoyed waking up to the cool crisp air. We enjoyed sitting outside around the fire and throwing pinecones, dried pine needles, and sticks in it throughout the day. We enjoyed taking fun rides together on the Ranger and Trent looked right at home and so content on the tractor. I ran inside to get my camera so I could capture him in that moment, only to find that I had forgotten the camera. Doh! (said as Homer Simpson). While snuggling Paisley inside I discovered that her two bottom teeth had come in!

If you look really closely you can see said tooth here.

We enjoyed the sounds and smells and feelings all around us. I can't wait until next time we can get away there again. It was a wonderful way to spend time as a family.

Sunday morning we spent some time together as well. What could be better than reading the Sunday paper before church?

Henry's croup kept him home Sunday. His cough is sounding better, but he is still running a fever and has no appetite whatsoever. Today he has only consumed apple juice, water, fruit snacks, and some dry cereal.

The kids were excited to have the missionaries visit for dinner tonight. So much in fact that after dinner they put on some costumes to show off.

Thurday and beyond

Thursday night I had a girl's night at my house. I feared that only a couple of people would come, but was pleasantly surprised with more. I ended up with Jill, Abbie, Lauren, Melissa, Rebecca, Cassi, and Diana, and how could I have forgotten Mel!? We enjoyed a couple of hours of chatting and snacking, exactly what I needed. I think we all had a nice time and we'll do it again. I may have gone overboard in my inviting an old friend's wife who I only know through blogging though, because although she politely declined my invite, it seems that I am now uninvited to her blog. ( Sorry for scaring you off H*)

Saturday we went repelling with Trent's family. I invited my nephew Gabe and he had a great time with us. Trent went down once with Tucker strapped to him and once with Charlotte strapped to him. They were all very brave. I enjoyed my one trip down (although I hate the part of going the initial ledge). Henry enjoyed drinking water from his daddy's camel pack and having his cousin Ashlyn feed him Craisins. Then we all went to Fuddruckers for lunch afterward. Fuddruckers is a favorite spot of ours, since we hardly get a sitter, we usually go there so the kids can play around on the video games.

Sunday my Dad was called as bishop of his ward. Good Luck Dad!

Sunday night Paisley tried rice cereal for the first time. She was much more interested in the spoon than the food.

This week we have ventured out to 2 different parks to enjoy the nice weather before it gets too hot.

Happy Thursday

Don;t forget to: Smile,

Exercise

And get plenty of rest.

You should also keep clean.

Paisley's Room

So, here it is. I have already ordered fabric for some throw pillows and a quilt. Ideally I would also like a rug and a different chair. I will be doing a little a little more art or something for the walls. What do you think?

I would also like some cute knobs for the top skinny drawers on the dresser.

Okay, my boring life has left very little that is blog worthy and honestly I just haven't felt like it that much lately. However, since the whole reason I have this blog is to keep record of my life and my kids lives, I can always update a little.

Tucker had his first field trip this week. The zoo. He was so excited to ride the bus. Adorable.

Henry has double ear infections. Again. Looks like he might have to get tubes just like Tucker.

Paisley has slept unswaddled for the last two nights. Wow, it seems like such a big girl thing for her to do. (I'll post pictures of her room in a day or so, even though there are some finishing touches that need to be made.)

Charlotte's new passion, hide and seek. She is actually getting quite good.

The weather is gorgeous this week. And the smell of orange blossoms are everywhere. I love it. I am longing to go thrift store shopping. I want some cooky old lamps and some milk glass.

Henry continues to talk

Henry is learning new words every day and it is so fun to hear him use them. Usually.

Sometimes when I set a bowl of food in front of him he puts his hands on the sides and if it is warm he says "It's hot." and won't eat it until he's been reassured several times that it's not hot, just warm. Well last night I put his dinner in front of him, he took one look at it and said, "It's gross." I couldn't help but laugh. I had made it with him in mind, no milk, no flour, no egg. But he wouldn't touch the stuff. He stuck to Corn Chex cereal. I tell myself that his appetite just hasn't been the same since he got this cold. Although maybe the yellow hue of the honey mustard chicken was less than appealing.

Later last night he made up for it when he said his first " I lub-oo." Yay!

A little better

So, Paisley seems to be feeling a bit better. She still has a hard time eating, I think her throat is sore and the coughing doesn't help. She is back to smiling and laughing though, which makes everyone feel better. All the kids have been sleeping progressively better each night. Yesterday I finally caught the cold that invaded our home (only without the coughing). I was exhausted by the end of the day and asleep before 9, wow!

I have had fun sewing the last week. I finished Paisley's curtains, the curtains for my bathroom, and some stylin' leg warmers for baby. MOre pics to come.

Sorry for the sideways pic. I thought I fixed it.

Well crap.

Warning: I am feeling a tad whiney.

I honestly can't remember the last time I had a decent night of sleep.

We (I) finally decided we needed to go out on a date with no kids and set up an evening for Ted and Lauren to babysit. Lo and Behold the fates conspired against us. Lauren got sick. Our kids have all had colds/coughs this week so I didn't think it would be wise to let Ted care for all four of them all alone. I considered taking Paisley along and decided against it. That isn't my idea of a nice night away.

With Paisley's cold she has decided to fight hard each time I try to feed her for the last 3 days. As soon as I lean her back and come at her with a bottle she starts a blood curdling scream accompanied by a stiff leg and arched back. It takes so long to get her to take only half of what she is used to. I have come pretty close to losing it.

I hope the weekend can bring some rest and relaxation, even if it doesn't come with a date with my husband.

On the fat front. .

I am a good (or bad actually) 35 pounds over my ideal weight. Gross. My body looks nothing like what it used to. Nothing. It is very hard to look at myself in a mirror right now. I realized that I try not to look in a mirror until absolutely necessary. Which in the course of my average day isn't very often, since I have usually nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody to see (unless you count 4 very small people that have to look at me almost their entire day). I don't get dressed in anything besides sweats except for church and the rare occasion that we go out as a couple or a family. Would you want to get dressed if you had about 4 items of clothes that fit you? And of course nobody wants to buy clothes in their fat size, because I want to be "downsizing" very soon.

I am very happy with my Jillian Michaels 30 day shred workout DVD. The recommendation for the best results are to use it along with dieting and to do the workout EVERY DAY. Well, that's not going to happen. My version of dieting so far has been eating less crap and sugar and just LESS in general and trying to cut out soda. Even diet soda is bad for you and I've been wanting to quit for years. I am also trying to drink more (way more) water.

So far I have managed to do the work out 3 days a week going on my 4th week. I am trying to bump it up to 5 days a week. I'm not sure how many pounds (if any) I have lost yet. Gotta dig that scale out of the garage! But I am definitely feeling better now that I am making an effort. Those first two days were killer and I was so sore it hurt to sit down. Now that's a pain I can live with.

shake rattle and ROLL

Paisley is doing new things every day. Since she turned four months old a couple of weeks ago she has acquired some new skills.

She can now roll from her back to her tummy. Since learning how, she seems to have forgotten her previous skill of rolling from tummy to back, so now she rolls to her tummy and gets very angry that she is there.

She arches her back like crazy and scoots backwards all over by doing that.

She has really gotten good at grabbing things and holding on tight. Things she loves to grab include toys, her toes (which she occasionally sticks in her mouth), shirts, and hair (usually mine).

She has also discovered that she has a tongue. Henry knew about his tongue from day 1 and was always found with it sticking out. Paisley has just barely learned about this body part and much to my delight she casually pokes it out occasionally. It is darling. She also has started this cute sucking on her bottom lip thing. It is all very endearing. We just love watching her change and grow. What a little chubs!

Feet

First of all- Thank you so much everyone for your wonderful feedback on my last post! It is so easy to get stuck in a rut and forget simple things I can do. I feel like I have a lot of new ways to feed Henry with more variety and nutrition. Thanks again!


In other cuteness. . Charlotte is always telling us that she is getting bigger. This morning she stood up next to Daddy and told him , " Look, I'm getting bigger." He responded as he often does, " Yes, your up to my hip, wow you're big," and then since she got measured at her check up last week at 36 and 1/2 inches, he added, " you're 3 feet tall, 3 feet."
To which she rationally responded, " I have 2 feet."

Henry's diet

As most of you know, Henry is allergic to wheat, milk, eggs and peanuts. I am running out of ideas on how to make his daily eating more diversified. Help please.

A usual day for Henry consists of an oatmeal breakfast, lunch of a hot dog or chili or grilled chicken, and dinner of more meat and veggies.

i am worried he is not getting enough fruits and veggies. Actually our whole family isn't. But it is especially hard to make vegetables appealing without using any dairy or flour. He eats potatoes and rice for starch. He doesn't like the texture of most of the fruit I try to give him. Although he loves oranges.

I would love any ideas you have for getting an 18 month old some variety in his restricted diet. Thanks!