Good-bye January.

Scooter didn't like January much...

 

I'm happy to say good-bye (good riddance?) to January. Not that it was a horrible month. We definitely had some good times in January, but moving into February means we are that much closer to Spring. And I'm a big lover of Spring. I will enjoy February, I promise I will. Valentine's Day and my Miles' 6 year old birthday will at least get me half way through. After that there's my list of "winter projects" I can turn to. Or a tall stack of books. Or ripping out that wall in the girls bedroom that is calling my name. And then the last week we get to find out what kind of baby we are having! So yes, February will be great! It will be awesome! So will March! {But my heart is aching for April}

Sophie

Sophie doesn't like me to take pictures of her very often, unless she is sticking out her tongue or doing something equally silly. And that's okay sometimes.... jut not always! She miraculously let me snap a few pictures after she'd gotten ready for church this Sunday. Sophie is looking too grown up lately, and seriously this girl is a gem! Not only is she lovely on the outside, she is just as sweet on the inside. Ten can be a hard age, caught between childhood and not-quite-as-grown-up-as-you-think-you-are. Since I posted something we are working on with Nora I thought I'd also post something about Sophie that we are dealing with. I am not focusing on the negative here, I just like to have a record of our real life... and real life isn't always just perfect (and really, who wants perfect anyway?)  Besides, I think it will be fun for my girls to look back and read about things like this when they grow up..... or at least so I can read them and laugh when I'm old!

Sophie is a feminist. I don't mean that necessarily in a bad way, but she's only ten. And she's already just so passionate about the unfairness of being a girl/woman. She has shed many, many tears because she feels the world favors men and boys. She hates when a girl has to be "saved" by a boy in any book or movie. She hates that women couldn't vote until 1920 and that they had to wear dresses and not have a career. I think this has all come about because she's a tomboy and loves all things outdoors, sports, nature, etc. and many of her friends are more girly then she is. Last week for Activity days they were doing manicures and Sophie was literally in tears over it. I told her she couldn't go if she was going to be rude about it and make her leaders feel bad for planning an activity that most of the girls would enjoy. She wants to join the Boy Scouts and go camping with them and tie knots, etc. A few months ago she wanted to wear pants to church. I told her no and she argued and pushed and asked why not. I told her because we wear dresses to show respect to Heavenly Father and to remind us to act like ladies. She said she can do that just as well in pants. Knowing her as well as I do I said this, "Sophie. Today there is no time for you to change, so next week if you feel this strongly about it you may wear pants. But today while we are at church I want you to look around and think about how you would feel if you were wearing pants today." She said okay and we went to church. After about 10 minutes in Sacrament meeting she leaned over to me and said, "Yeah... I guess I would feel pretty weird in pants." Now, there are a number of ladies in my ward who wear pants to church at times. This doesn't bother me. But I grew up always wearing skirts/dresses to church so that is how I plan to raise my daughters.  I have no problem wearing dresses and it doesn't make me feel any less of a person or like I "have" to do it. I like dresses! And though I don't mind women wearing pants to church I think it's silly to wear pants to church just to make a statement.

Anyway, after much thought and prayer I decided that Sophie needed to learn more about the Relief Society organization of our church. She is focusing on all the things she can't do, and not on all the wonderful things we are blessed with as women. So I've had her start reading the new Relief Society book Daughters in my Kingdom and she is really enjoying it. I hope she'll feel proud and happy to be a girl/woman after she finishes it.

Parenting is hard.
And the best thing ever.

Once again...

We told the kids over winter break that hopefully they'll have a new sibling this summer! I've been dragging my feet on making the official "announcement" that I am pregnant again. I finally posted it on facebook last week because the belly is getting hard to suck in (I sure pop out faster with each pregnancy!) and facebook is the easiest way to get the news out and stop all the questioning looks at church! :) I'm 16 weeks now and feeling much better in the 2nd trimester. I had an ultrasound at 11 weeks and found out I have another subchorionic hematoma (which is a tear between the placenta and uterine wall) like I did last winter, which led to a miscarriage at 18 weeks in February. So... I've been a bit anxious. It's a smaller one and I've had no bleeding so I am trying to not worry too much. But last time they told me I had "absolutely nothing to worry about" so it's hard to feel reassured. But there's nothing I can do about it, so I anxiously wait for each appointment so I can hear that precious little heartbeat. I think once I surpass 18 weeks I will be less worried, and after the ultrasound at 20 weeks when they can check the hematoma I will know if it's gone. Most subchorionic hematoma's resolve by 20 weeks, but sometimes they get bigger. The smaller the hematoma the less of a risk there is of miscarriage. So.... I am doing my best to not let it consume my thoughts and stress out about it, which isn't easy! And today I felt baby moving for the first time so that is a great feeling.

Anyway, we are so very excited to bring another baby into our family. It has been too long since I've had a tiny baby to hold and snuggle and kiss and smell! There is nothing better than a new baby. And we are going to find out the gender in February! With our last three babies we've waited until birth to know what we were having. And I truly loved that, but since we have an actual room to get ready just for the baby (so fun!), and with it maybe being the last one we are going to find out this time....which will be so fun! Hooray for babies!

Sick Boys

 Yesterday I thought Wes was on the mend. His 102.7 fever had broken and he actually had a desire to eat something. Last night about 9 he started crying that his right ear hurt. And he didn't stop crying until midnight. Poor baby! He kept crying and saying, "Mommy!" and "Daddy!" in such a sad voice. It broke my heart that I couldn't help him. Brian and I gave him some motrin, we held a warm rice pack on his ear and put a drop of warmed olive oil inside his ear and he was able to finally fall asleep. Once he fell asleep Miles woke up crying and he had a 102.7 fever and chills. I gave him some medicine and laid with him until 2ish when he was finally able to sleep again. Then Wesley started coughing so I moved the humidifier down in the office with him and finally went to sleep around 3. Then Brian was in with Wesley from 3 on. Long nights are tough as parents, but when your kids are sick and they need you it isn't quite as hard.

Today Miles has had a fever and cough. I took them to the doctor and got Wesley some antibiotics for an ear infection. Hopefully Miles' won't get to that point. I knew Miles was really feeling crummy when he turned down gatorade and playing on the computer to just lay down with me. Even though he feels sick, it was nice to snuggle my almost 6 year old boy! Here's to hoping these cute boys feel better soon - and the girls can stay healthy!

Home sick

I stayed home from church with a sick Wesley today. Luckily it's a cold and not puking since he's still a poor aim when it comes to puking. He has a fever, nasty cough, watery eyes and rosy cheeks. I also kept Miles home for 2 reasons: I didn't dare ask anyone else to keep an eye on him during Sacrament meeting and I needed him home to play with Wesley, because even though he is sick he still wants to play Legos and Rescue Bots. It was a quiet morning for me so I got my sewing area cleaned so I can go ahead and mess it up again. Yay!

I love this spot. I picked up this lovely piece on the curb in Michigan. Score! Yes, it's missing a few handles - but no biggie, I can still get them open. I also love my ancient sewing machine. My dad bought it for my mom as a wedding present and it still works like a charm. My mom has sewn a great many things on this machine; from my baby clothes to prom dresses (and plenty of lovely 80's wear in between) to Sophie's blessing dress (which was made from the train of my wedding dress). I'm not the seamstress my mom is, mostly sticking to blankets, skirts and other simple projects - but many doll clothes have been churned out of this spot in the past few years, maybe one day I will branch out and attempt bigger and more complicated things...as long as my sewing machine holds up :)

Nora

On Sunday after church Nora and I were cuddling on the couch while Sophie was reading by the fire with the dog and the boys were playing legos. The camera was sitting nearby so I took a few pictures of us. I often get told that Nora looks like me, but if I look at pictures of me at her age we don't really look that much alike. Nora is our child who has the strongest need for physical attention. She needs to be hugged, kissed and snuggled. And often. She is also highly emotional right now. I watch her struggle to gain control over her emotions and it is so hard for her. She has such a beautiful and tender heart but she is easily upset and can completely spiral out of control over things that seem so very small. We have read books and tried many things; losing privileges and toys, being stern, ignoring her, holding her, sending her to her room, trying to talk with her, etc. I find myself in these situations just wanting to cry with her because I feel so lost as to how to help her. I feel like she reaches a point where she knows she has lost control and it frustrates her even more. Poor sweet girl. She has a harder time if she is over tired or hungry. I know we'll be able to work through this and she'll learn how to deal with her strong emotions, but it is sad to watch her struggle. The good thing is that she has never had any problems at school or church or anywhere but with family. So I know she can do it! I just need to figure out how to help her in the best way.

Diaper Free!

 For the last 10 1/2 years we've been buying diapers. Since Sophie was born we've always had two kids in diapers for a while and then just one. That is a lot of money (well spent money of course...) But I despise potty training and my general way to potty train is to wait until they are ready and want to do it (no staying home for a week straight and dealing with a hundred accidents for me). Sophie was potty trained about two and a half, Nora and Miles were both barely three. Wesley turned three in September but has been extremely resistant to the whole thing. And knowing his sweet little self as we do, we knew pushing him would just not work. So every time we went to the store we'd look at the toys and he'd want one (of course) and I would say "As soon as you wear big boy underwear we will come back and get this toy!" He would consider it for a second and then say, "No. I want diapers." We would also look at all the cool underwear and I would tell him he could pick some out if he would wear them. Again, "No. I want diapers." So this past Friday he and I went on our Friday shopping trip out to Costco and he saw some Superhero underwear that we'd looked at many times before but this time he said, "I want those!" I told him he'd have to wear them and keep them dry and he said okay. We brought them home and put them on and the boy has had ZERO accidents since he put them on. I knew once he decided he was ready it would be easy!

Such a fun little guy. It must be noted that he has also been an easier kid all around the past few weeks. His smile still melts my heart and I love spending the day with him.