Before I forget

Paisley finally gave us a real laugh early this week. It was wonderful. It is still wonderful.

Henry 18 months!

My funny little Hank,

You are 18 months old today and I have to say that I absolutely love this age! For the most part that is. I love the size of your little body. I take great pleasure in watching you waddle around in it. It seems the perfect size for your silly little dancing and your funny little stomp walk that you do. It looks like some sort of gansta' strut because you stomp one foot along while walking completely normally with the other. Your dancing includes a lot of spinning. You love to spin until you are so dizzy that you can't walk straight. Sometimes you will begin wildly swinging your head back and forth at which point I chant "wiggly head, wiggly head". Now if you are stationary and I say wiggly head, you kindly comply with my request.

There are so many other fun things you do. You love to clap when something is exciting or praiseworthy, especially if it is directed at you. It is so adorable how you reverently fold your arms during prayer and exlaim "May" (amen) at the end. You have a wonderful smile that I honestly cannot look out without breaking into a huge smile of my own. You are adventurous and slightly naughty. You push the kitchen chairs wherever the wood floors will let you. Usually you remain in the kitchen, climb onto the counter, open the medicine cabinet, shake a bottle of pills at me and say "nandy" to which I always respond that those aren't candy, it is yucky medicine. You have yet to give up on that though. Sometimes you will go as far as to push to chair all the way into the master bathroom where you either climb onto Trent's counter and take the electronic toothbrush of your choice and turn it on, or onto my counter where you explore my make up and occasionally even put some lipstick on.

You throw fits. You are my only child that has done this, so far. It is sort of funny. You used to yell, run to the closest wall, and throw yourself to the floor. But lately your fits have become even more laughable because now you scream and run backwards. I have no idea why. This usually results in you running into or tripping on something, making you even more mad.

Your feet seem to move faster than your brain can adjust and you generally have at least one bruise on your beautiful little face.

You are becoming very vocal. You can say many words and even more partial words. Your most used words are: Mama, juice, please, thank you, mine, ball, balls, "may" (amen), poopy, no, I know, "nandy" (candy), "nuck" (milk), and nigh-nigh (night night).

You also loved to be held. You are no respecter of persons either. You will lift your arms to any stranger in church requesting to be held. Usually at home when you want to be held it is so you can flip the light switches on and off or push the buttons on the washing machine. You love buttons. That is another one of your words. You don't show much interest in the Signing Time videos yet, but you can do the signs for the words more, milk, all done (which you do whenever you are finished eating), and food. You also blow kisses with a wonderfully loud "mmmm-ah" sound.

We love you so much Henry. I can't describe the amount of joy and laughter you bring to this family. I know you will brighten up this world every day you are in it. I hope I can always be there to help lift you where you want to go.

Love,

your very dorky mom

crap

Apparently my other email address has been shut down. So anyone who emails me, please change in your address book to my robinrooster(AT)gmail(dot)com address
Thanks

Just thought I'd ask

At Costco yesterday I bought some delicious looking Pesto. I have never made anything with pesto before and would love anyone to send me a pesto recipe. Email me at robinrooster@gmail.com or comment with a recipe or a link to a recipe. pretty please.

This morning I ordered Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. Has anyone tried it? The reviews were good and the workouts are short, so I hope it can help me unfattify myself. At least start anyway.

Paisley 4 months

My chubby little Paisley,
I can't believe you are 4 months old. It seems that I was just barely feeling your first kicks inside of me. You are such a wonderful and happy little baby. You are just what a mother of four young children prays for. You eat well and sleep well and enjoy lying for periods of time looking up at your links. You roll easily from your tummy to back and you are so close to rolling from back to belly. You haven't quite given us a real belly laugh yet, just sporadic squeals that are almost a real laugh. Your hair curls right up after your bath. You haven't lost the hair on the top of your head like your other siblings did, just the rubbed off spot in the back. You have the large round face that cannot be resisted for kissing. You have the deepest neck rolls that have to be wiped often to keep milk from stinking in there. Your eyelashes that started out so thin and short have grown long and lovely. You charm everyone wherever you go and it is no surprise. You love your little bath. As soon as you touch the warm water you begin your powerful kicking that sends water splashing in large waves over the sides. You are adored by your siblings and you love them back with that wide grin. Your dad has taken to calling you his "little Pastry". A fitting nickname as we all love to nibble on you. I feel like you have completed our family and I am so excited to see the relationships with your siblings grow. I know you will do great things and continue to befriend all you meet. We love you and hope to soak up every little stage you enter.
Love,
Your doting mother

sweet siblings

Seeing how sweetly Charlotte and Henry were playing together this morning brought tears to my eyes. They were walking around the house holding hands, it was adorable. When I finished rocking Paisley and laid her down it was too late to snap a photo.

Later this morning Gina sent me a picture of the two of us and said how she missed me. More tears in my eyes. Why can't I find another neighborhood friend like her? It was so nice to feel missed. I have been feeling quite down lately in my fatty fat fat state.

My darling friend Amanda took some family photos of us. She sent me this sneak peek last night.

Stuff has been going on

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But for now just enjoy these pictures. And maybe soon, if I ever catch up on dishes and laundry, I will post about Charlotte's birthday.

As for New Year's, I think we were in bed around 10:30. Other than that, Tucker is back in school and we are back to some sort of schedule and miss having Daddy around so much.

Trent: Super Husband

My husband has been so absolutely wonderful the past few days. Wednesday he took the 3 oldest kids with him to Christopher Creek for the day. It is pretty common for him to take Tucker along when he goes there for work. Sometimes Charlotte too. But I was so surprised and grateful when he took Henry as well, without me asking or anything. It was a wonderful day off for me to only have Paisley and myself to care for. He has also just been more thoughtful the last couple of days. He has been mindful of things that I need. Something as little as packing the travel swing in the car before we go to his mom's has made my life easier and made me feel so happy because he was thinking of me and how he could help. He has been doing the dishes in the mornings and helping with laundry, which is not entirely unusual. I am just feeling especially grateful for my sweet husband today, who at this moment is at the park with Tucker, Charlotte, and Henry, playing and launching the rocket he got for Christmas. What a lucky girl I am!

Holy cow, this is my 401st post!

Sorry if anyone was disappointed by my lack of blogging lately. These 4 kids keep me pretty busy and at the end of the day my priority is to lie down.
Christmas week was busy and fun. The Saturday before we had a ward Christmas party with another Santa. Henry was not a fan.

Some last minute Christmas shopping and baking was done. Christmas Eve we dropped in on Trent's parents before heading to my parents where we ate soup and pork tacos and had the grand kids open all their presents from Nana and Papa and then all the siblings had a gift exchange. It was a good time and we came home to prepare for Santa.

Christmas morning Henry was first to wake up. We brought him in our bed where he happily "talked" and "sang" to us for a good few minutes before Charlie hopped in to the bed to join the fun. A few minutes later Tucker came in and announced that Santa had been here, he checked and there were presents.

Trent's parents came over to join us and brought cinnamon rolls and more gifts. Charlotte's favorite present were the princess dresses from Grandma.

After relaxing a little and picking up for a while we went to Bart and Dusti's for more food and hanging out. It was a long day, but very nice.

Saturday Santa

We went to a block party in Trent's parent's ward. We enjoyed visiting Santa, decorating cookies, the bounce house, fry bread, hot dogs, popcorn, and hot chocolate.

Ta-Dah!

I have these wonderful alphabet cards that my cousin Abbie and my Aunt Susan got for me a LONG time ago. I have wanted to put them up in the boys room forever, but wasn't sure how I wanted to do it. So I sent my question in to Ohdeedoh for the faithful readers to answer what the best way to mount the cards would be. Most suggested the 3M command strips, but one suggested something so cheap and easy that I couldn't resist trying it.

What, you ask, was this wonderful suggestion- hot glue!

Sniffy Face

Trent doesn't think that these photos can be fully enjoyed if you have never seen Henry do his sniffy face in person. However I think they are hilarious no matter what.

More from my wishlist

I think I want this rocking chair for the nursery.


This rug would look good in there too. It's from Urban Outfitters.

Favorite things 2

I'm loving this Vera Wang bedding from Kohl's.

Favorite things 1

Since I had such fun posting my Christmas list I will randomly post links to cute things that I like. For instance, the beautiful necklaces at this Etsy shop.

Catchin Up

We celebrated cousin Kolbe's birthday on the 16th and I left my camera there, so I haven't been updating. We had a great time at the party making gingerbread houses and Paisley had fun sporting one of the flower clips I made her.

The Monday after that I got to take Henry and Paisley together for their 15 month and 2 month well-checks and immunizations. What a joy that was.

That Thursday I was planning on going to my monthly Bunko night when my sister Karen informed me that the band Marcy Playground would be playing a free show in Scottsdale. I got Abbie to come with me and I had a great time. I haven't seen any bands play for way too long (Trent's not really a concert guy). I will have to get pictures from Karen's camera to share.

Then Friday Trent had a scout campout and he kindly took Tucker along.

Saturday my wonderful Ted and Lauren agreed to watch the kids so Trent and I could have a date. We went to Outback and Paisley came too. The lady next to us insisted on holding her before she left and pointed out to us that Paisley looks just like a Cupie Doll.

Then Thanksgiving morning we flew up to SLC to spend the weekend with many of Trent's extended family. It was a wonderful time in a beautiful setting.

Friday Trent and several of his siblings went skiing/snowboarding. Trent even decided to put Tucker in ski class for the day with his cousin Kyler! I wish I could have seen him!
Wes watched Henry and Charlotte for several hours so that Paisley and I could go shopping with the girls- I can't thank him enough!

Saturday I was getting sick. I got to see Emily and her beautiful baby Elora and I was so grateful they drove up to visit! In the meantime Daddy took Tucker and Charlotte on a little hike up to a waterfall with some of the other cousins. Charlotte was out cold by the time they got back and Trent had gotten a good workout. Then we flew out that evening and got to spend all day Sunday relaxing.

Christmas time

So, we put up our Christmas tree Monday night. I know it's early. But honestly, with it being almost 90 degrees outside, I needed something to get me in the holiday mood.
I have barely started my Christmas shopping. I am not one of those awesome people who already have it done. Trent is by far the hardest person to buy for. I have been married to him for 7 years and every birthday and Christmas I hate buying presents for him, 'cause I never feel like I know just what he'd love. The kids are easy enough. Parents are pretty hard and in-laws. Usually I do alright for my own sibling (whomever I draw that year). Anyway, the shopping is going to be a difficult task this year. How do I get the kids gifts when they are with me at all times? And how do I shop for other people when I have 3 or 4 kids with me at all times? I have a feeling I will be buying several things online this year.
You know what I want this year? What do you mean you don't care? Well, I'll tell you anyway.

In no particular order:

-A new vacuum thing for laminate wood floors. ( Our Shark isn't working so good these days and I'm not a big fan of rolling our huge shop vac around the house several times a day.)

- A set of kitchen knives

- A subscription to a design magazine such as Domino or Elle decor or something.

- A girt certificate to Target or Ross

- A gym membership and the will, desire, and motivation to actually diet and exercise

- A hair cut and color

-New light fixtures for my front room and over our dining table ( I want a large drum shade for over the table.)

-Bedding for my bed

- A rotary cutter and cutting board

- A sewing class

- Guitar lessons

This is my dream list. The beauty is that I don't mind if I don't get any of it. I am really happy to get lotion and a couple of cd's. Maybe a mystery novel and some bubble bath. Trent is the best Santa and has never failed to please. . except maybe that one time that he thought an electronic toothbrush was an awesome gift.

Cuteness

Bedtime stories.

Trying to get in more tummy time.

Paisley in all her cute chubbiness.

Blog safety

A lot of this is common sense, but I think everyone who has a public blog should do these things.
For example, I don't use our last name and hope that people don't use our last name when linking to my blog or posting comments on my blog. There are plenty of other ways to protect yourself when blogging publicly. These aren't guaranteed to keep you safe, but can definitely help.

Paisley's Blessing

Yesterday my gorgeous husband gave our gorgeous new daughter a name and a blessing. We were surrounded by family and friends and it was a wonderful day. Mel got to sit by us and help us with our silly kids. We sat across from Lindy and her girls and her boyfriend Matt. My beautiful sister Sarah kept Henry smiling with her almost the entire meeting and one of my other beautiful sisters, Karen was sitting with Lindy and helping run little girls to the bathroom at least twice. My beautiful new sister Lauren got to meet Paisley for the first time. Kim and Dan and their two kids even drove down from Flagstaff that morning to make our 8 o'clock meeting! I was really feeling the love! I had a wonderful time and wish I had gotten to visit with everyone a little more.Neck rolls, anyone?


The food wasn't bad either, we had muffins, fruit, hot cocoa, juice, cookies, pumpkin bread, and I even made 2 breakfast casseroles and pumpkin bars.

Check out this picture from Charlotte's blessing almost 3 years ago.