i had totally meant to do a thanksgiving post. on my early run on thanksgiving, i went sans ipod and thought of all the things i'm thankful for. my family was pretty much top on the list. big d, my kids, my parents, running shoes, you know, yada yada yada...

not to pass over my favorite holiday without much fuss, but you know, been there done that. thanksgiving dinner at my parents was the same...delicious. more food than you could ever eat. we tried, we darn near busted our guts, but we failed. meemer mom is an excellent cook. family was together and gracious. pleasant afternoon in all. i am very thankful for that.

and now it's over.

*sigh*

the christmas season has begun.

*sigh*

the time of year that involves stressing over what to buy everyone, stressing over what's left in the checking account, and stressing over making sure we "do" all the fun things. stressing over sharing times with each family. stressing over lighting the house with a billion fancy twinkle lights. stressing over finding that freaking bumblebee transformer that is on both of my older boys christmas list. stressing what to bake. stressing over where to put the tree. stressing over what to do for neighbors, teachers, the milkman.

i've a headache that started thursday night, and i assume it will be with me until january 2nd.

fussy and the power of no

this video has no sound, but i hope you can figure out what is going on. fussy is sitting by the doggy water and i keep telling him no.

didja know big d has a bloggie? he does, and although it is boring and silly, like my blog, it also has information that mine doesn't. if you want to, go ahead and stalk him for a while...
visit big d's blog here

running my own race 5k

before the race:

big d left me in the dust! way to go mr 22:09. i came in at 24:14. just enough after for him not to get my picture.

and after:

here's big d's little sister who ran the race as well. she came in at 27!!

video of fussy

here is what i am talking about. nevermind the fact that he started fussing, and it's a bit wiggly. it's my first video off my lame-o camera.

just a couple of things...

First:chilli has been anxious to play with friends all week. i think the fact that brother went back on track at school has something to do with it. however excited he is though, he probably will not be going back to the next door neighbors house. his little friend there decided to beat him with a stick. apparently. he is bruised and bloody and i think a chat with neighbor child (aka spawn of satan) is probably in order. poor kid.

B. fussy is mobil. much more than he has been. he doesn't crawl, but more scoots. on his bum. i've been waiting for him to crawl for a while. not really in a good way, but in a "boy we are in trouble when he crawls" kind of way. we have 3 sets of stairs in our house. three. and dog food.

he loves the dog food dish and insists on drinking the water from it. flat faced. he does this in the tub too. it is pretty freaky to see my baby face down in the water. he loves to be with his brothers too. although i think they get a little tired of him.

and three ( i know i said couple, but it's my blog) , the show opens on FRIDAY. thank goodness. i've never been a good single parent. and even though big d will still be working crazy hours, we might actually see him before the door hits him on the way out. the kids might remember who he is! and if we get surprise visitors, we might actually be able to hang out with them.

and what's a blog post without a couple of random pictures??

happy birthday!

to my niece. i hope you don't mind if i post a few pictures of the girl. it is kind of weirding me out that she is 14 years old. i remember seeing her on the ultrasound! she is such a great kid too. she tells me that she doesn't think i'm old. maybe she is just being nice, but it doesn't matter. i'm pretty sure she thinks i'm nuts, but she will still im with me. she shares campy vampire literature with me too! i'm a lucky auntie.

so happy birthday girl. sorry i couldn't go out with you tonight. believe me, it sounded wonderful. bring me back some salsa please! i love you and hope your birthday is great.

so it begins

when harry was a baby, he got sick about january. from february to june he had one ear infection after another. we think it was just one infection that never drained, or the antibiotics never worked. eventually he turned a year, summer came, and it all evened out. i learned to use decongestants and keep him happy if he even started with a runny nose. i also gave him echinacia and alstralgus.

Chilli was a different story. his first ear infection came as a complete surprise when one afternoon, i noticed "goo" coming from out of his ear. after taking him in, we found out that his eardrum had ruptured, and the the junk came out. he was fine after, just fluid was in his ears, for like, ever. we just got his tonsils out in may, along with a marion g romney (myrongotomy) to slice open his ear drums. we were about an inch away from doing the whole tube things. he seems fine now.

poor fussy. sometime during the car ride this afternoon, his eardrum exploded. blood everywhere. i'm not really making this up. at least there was a fair amount of blood where there usually isn't, coming out of his ear. the first thing i thought was "CRAP, he conked his head really hard this morning" then it hit me..."runny nose, fussier than normal. i bet he has an ear infection". so after making it home, finding the dr. finding someone to watch the other yahoo kiddos, waiting in the crowded office for an hour, the dr. told me what i knew already..."he has an ear infection"

*sigh*

at least i kind of know what to expect, right? i hate hate hate ear infections. they scare me. i can't imagine how they feel for the poor babies, much less how to help them. so i did the popular thing to do, i got the drugs. i hope that he tolerates them well. i hope they make the bad bugs go away. i hope the fluid drains out so that the infections can stop. i hope for a lot.

i attribute all ear/tonsil problems to my husbands family. MY side never EVER had any of these kinds of problems. and of course none of these problems would exist right now if big d weren't crazy busy at work, right? so not only am i stressed, worried, worn out, i'm doing it solo! don't worry. i'll get my baby nice and healthy for big d to be home.

a photo essay

this is fussy on sunday. i wanted to take his picture. he was being so cute with the panda bear.




so i set him down...

then he fell over and got really mad...

so i picked him up....look at those eyes! he was crying for maybe a minute!

then i tried to take some self portraits.....

he still wasn't interested in being happy....

daddy finally took the camera.....

almost there.....

finally a smile!

snakes and snails and puppy dog tails....

thats what little boys are made of.

it's inevitable. your son brings home a wild animal and insists to harbour it. we actually found a nest of snakes in our back yard. harry caught one on thursday, and the other two today. 3 three snakes. kinda like my three sons.

meet reggie

stumpy and freddie

and this is what reggie does late at night, when i accidentally leave the aquarium lid open.

i'm okay with it. as long as they don't get out, and i don't have to touch them.

harry's story

Once upon a time there was a family. And the name of the family was THE FLAKES. One day they finally decided that they wanted a pumpkin. So they went shopping for some seeds.

They bought some pumpkin seeds and went home and planted them in the garden. They did NOT know that there was going to be a crowd around the pumpkin in the future.

after a few days a little plant started to grow. The Flakes were so happy that they jumped for joy.

Then they turned on the t.v. and flipped threw the channels until they found the news.

“There is going to be a storm tonight. and tomorrow it’s going to be a bright sunny day!” Said the weather man. The Flakes’ smiles went away as fast as a race car. Then they were deep in thought. Their question was “how are we going to protect the pumpkin plant?” They thought for almost an hour!

Then a boy named Jack said “I have an idea! We can put a box over it and keep the flaps out and then we can put very heavy stuff on top and put two boards together shaped like a roof and drill it on!”
“Is that it?” Asked the mom of the Flakes.

“Yes!” Said Jack. “That is it mom!”

The Flakes got to work. They just got done when all the Flakes felt a little rain drop.
“We better get inside!” said a boy named George.
So the flakes went inside. It was night so they all fell asleep except for one Flake. Jack was wondering if his plan would work. But to his great surprise it worked! It was almost like a miracle to Jack. Because two things happened . Number 1: it was safe through a big heavy storm. And number 2: It grew even bigger!
And since a box is not very warm, they put a blanket on the pumpkin plant. All the Flakes took turns hugging the pumpkin plant softly.

They made a chart of who would watch the pumpkin on each day. The first person was Jack. When he was done he fed it and gave it water. He then hugged it softly. That night, it grew even bigger. In the morning all the Flakes were surprised. It grew so big, it was the size of a baseball.
And the next person was George. He did the same thing as Jack. All the Flakes loved the little pumpkin. It grew the size of a football.

And after all the Flakes had watched the pumpkin, it was the size of a chair. It kept growing and growing and growing.

Then it was the day before Halloween. People walking by noticed the big pumpkin. The people were really amazed, because the pumpkin was HUGE! It was as big as a train car. Pretty soon there was a crowd of people taking pictures. The Flakes were proud of growing a big pumpkin.

Half the town, including the Flakes, carried the pumpkin to an old lighthouse tower that didn’t have a light inside anymore.

Then all the town came and carved a picture in the pumpkin. They took out all the seeds, and guts. Seeds and guts were everywhere. Then all the people took turns getting inside the pumpkin.

It was so big that 50 people could fit inside. It was so strong that 15 really fat guys could sit on it, without it getting squashed. Then they got a big lighthouse light bulb from the lighthouse store and put it in the pumpkin. Then the dad Flake lit it up.

The sailors out at sea saw spooky pictures on the rocks made by the lit up pumpkin. They said “I’ve never seen that before!”

The next day was Halloween, and all the trick-or-treaters went out to go trick or treating. They didn’t need flashlights because the pumpkin was so bright.

The whole town decided they wanted a pumpkin like the Flakes’ grew. So they all decided to plant seeds, including the Flakes. The people loved their pumpkins, just like the Flakes did. So take care of your pumpkins that you grow. Give them lots of love.
The End

(written by my 2nd grader...cute huh?)

unsolicited advice, or what your mother never told you...

about having a kid.

my niece is expecting. she's about half way done gestating. i'm really excited for her. she has always been the mothering type. she is a great babysitter. she's been married for a couple of years, she has a nice home, i think it's great timing. it hit me as odd that i'm going to be a great aunt. weird. even weirder, my mom is going to be a great grandma.

She is 22 years old, the same age i was when i had harry. it struck me how much 7 years can change someone. i am not the same person i was back then. not only do i have 3 kids, no job (or real sanity). my ideas about raising kids has drastically changed. i'm sure i'm not the mother that i told myself i was going to be.

so here goes
1. obvious...your body will never ever be the same again.
yes, just by being pregnant means your wonderful rack, will heretofore be deflated. not immediately, no. first they are going to swell to the size of footballs. and they are going to hurt. there is much pain involved with this. like as if someone shoved rocks under your skin (it will look that way too) heavy and cumbersome. and if you are like me, then you will feed your baby with these wonderfully huge footballs.

that isn't the only place your body will change. your rear also either deflates into flat, or inflates to bubble. your hips, once petite, swell and spread to provide ample room to evacuate and balance. and then there is your tummy. i had fair warning for everything but this. squishy belly. extra skin. gross. for YEARS i didn't let big d even see, much less handle my lovely midsection. i had no idea the damage that came from birthing. it's a good thing too, or i might not have ever had kids.

2. your marital relations.
a nooner will no longer reference anything to do with your spouse. a nooner is what happens when you find yourself waking from an unintentional nap while praying the baby takes a nap. if you are lucky the baby will have napped, and maybe, just maybe, you will have the energy for post baby relations. it is rare though, especially with subsequent children.

your sweet spouse is himself exhausted. this i do not understand. while i am the one getting up every night, multiple times, my dear sweetheart hubby is sleeping. yet in the morning, he can claim that he is tired as well. yeah, i did see you during the night, only you were sleeping!

besides the lack of sleep, there will be the fear of spawning another. that right there can be effective for several months.

3. laundry.
i'm throwing this out there, because a strange phenomenon happens when you bring a small little baby home. your laundry triples. how this happens when they only wear little clothes is beyond me. are the onesies mating in there? and then try to match up all those baby socks! you think too, that you have to wash their clothes in special detergent that overwhelms baby into not sleeping. it smells so sweet, only babies seem to come allergic to that sweetness and prefer the smell of sour milk. at least we know why there is so much laundry. or it could be...

4. diapers.
is there anything that strikes fear into the soul of first time parents. they get their bundle home, only to find out, it isn't too bad. and then the kid will poo every 10 minutes one week, and then not for days the next. but when he goes, try to hold him over the sink. if you have kids, you know why. for real, i'm not making this up (why would i?).

diapers are pretty much all the same. ask anybody what kind they use and why and you will get different answers based on fit and "leak proof ability". it doesn't matter. they all do the same thing. go cheapest, unless someone else is buying. if you do waste your money (rationalizing) on the spendy brands, understand that they do size them 3 sizes too small.
meaning the playground gossiping of "what size is he in?" means nothing. your newborn could fit into size 3's.

5.nursing.
it's about the most wonderful experience. but it is hard. n i p p l e s take the beating for the first 6 weeks. don't give up before then. and don't cave into the formula marketing. i never regretted nursing, but i know plenty of mother who regretted not. it isn't natural, and it does take time. you are tied to the baby more, but isn't that why you had a baby?

6. they do grow up.
fast. those first 6 weeks are hellish and long, the next 6 are gone in a blink. the first year is full of firsts and new experiences and fun memories, the subsequent speed right by. you alternate between "why did i do this" and "stop growing, i want this to last forever". take comfort that it doesn't last forever on those days when she won't sleep-you've got laundry piled up from diaper blowouts-you're tired and all you want is a nap without holding anybody. but it sucks when she smiles for the first time. or when she does fall asleep snuggled in your arms with sweet baby breath on your face.

i promise it is the hardest work i've ever done. not a day goes by when i wish i had time for me. not only do i worry, i clean, i fix wounds, i nag, i threaten, i play, i rock, i wipe, i feed. days melt into each other and thursday turns into monday, saturday disappeared, and wednesday is always laundry day.

it gives me a purpose. it has made me who i am. i'm no longer what i wanted to be, i can't be that perfect mother. i'm real, saggy and all. i'm a mommy.

isn't this a desert state?

utah. where i live?

because for the past 4 or 5 saturdays it has rained. i've run in the rain much more than i ever thought i would. some sadistic part of me likes running in the rain. like it shouts to the world how dedicated i am. mostly though, i make it home, sopping wet, ready for a hot bath to warm me up.

am i crazy?

my thoughts exactly. i know i am when it started hailing, and i thought to "just push on through". crazy as beans. of course talk to big d on the days that i don't get to run, and he'll tell you THAT'S when i am crazy.

for the life of me though, i don't remember a wetter october. hopefully mother nature will get it out of her system soon, so we can be dry old deseret again. i'm a little tired of the storms.

fighting for computer time

it's good for me. my kids have discovered the wonders of the computer. they beg to be on it all day. from harry typing up his stories, to chilly playing on pbs kids. even when the internet is out, they still fight over playing games. so take that into consideration. we have one computer, and as much as i would love my own laptop, that aint happening. so i am just an infrequent visiter now.

if chilly see's me park it in front of the computer, he starts in for Super Why. and i'm a terrible mother because 1, i don't even know who that is, and 2, i'd rather just let him and not fight about it. if harry is home (which he will be for the next 3 weeks of off track time) there's no way i can spend a peaceful moment with mofs.

it comes down to after bedtime. to be honest, my neurons don't fire well after 8 pm. i'm not witty, or clever. just tired from a hard day of being the mommy. and i'm probably nursing fussy, typing one handed as i am now.

there ya go. my reasons for not blogging much. not that really anyone but me cares. i'm the only one who reads this blog.

whose kids are these?

oh yeah, they're mine. can you tell they are excited for halloween? can you tell they love a mom with costume makeup? can you tell i love halloween?

alright then, as long as you can tell.

playing catch up

while my internet has been out...again. i need to mention all the amazing things that have happened.

so here are some pictures of my kids, because thats what i've been doing. taking care of kids.

i've also:

reaaranged my furniture

tried to get internet working

swapped out the summer clothes for winter clothes for all 3 boys

tried to get internet working

deep cleaned most of my house

called stupid internet people and tried to get it working

endless loads of laundry

played with friends

tried to get internet working

ran

grocery shopping

sat at the computer and mourned the loss of my internet

other shopping

made breakfasts, lunches, and dinners

wished my internet was working

so that is pretty much it. now my internet IS working, of course i don't know for how long.

my baby

fussy. did you know he's 8 months old? yep, he is. it seems really crazy, and i kinda feel badly, but i LOVE that he is older. i mean, he was cute as a newborn, and fun to look at, but everyday he seems to get more fun.

he isn't crawling yet, or doing much besides sitting and eating. that seems weird to me because both my older boys were very active by this time. harry was actually walking at 8 months. of course he was my first, so really he didn't seem that different. fussy seems like he would like to crawl, but then he decides he's perfectly happy in my arms.

the third time around is a lot different, at least for me. it seems to go faster. i am so much busier now that i have school kids, playdates, soccer, baseball....it's hard to remember what it was like when i just had harry. i am definantly not as stressed out this time.

yeah, pretty random. it's just been on my mind lately, how different it seems now, how quickly he is growing up, and the fact that i'm not terribly sad by that. in fact i'm pretty excited about it. crawling walking, getting into things. first words, hugs and kisses. being the mom is a lot of work, but i think getting to watch somebody grow firsthand is pretty amazing.

welcome fall

i'm not much for remembering the seasons. i notice when the flowers start to pop up in the spring, i get excited for the first snowfall. i am in heaven when the thermometer reaches 85. but today my 7 year old reminded me it was the first day of autumn.

i love fall. i love the change of colors from green to gold. i love that nature paints itself in such a warm pallet for such a cool season. i love halloween, i love thanksgiving. i love cool mornings and cloudy days. cinnamon rolls and peach cobbler. so many smells are associated with fall. even the smell of dust burning on the furnace the first time it kicks on.

i don't like the fact that winter is right around the corner. i'm a summer girl through and through. well, at least a three warmish season girl. i detest snow, cold, sleet, and icicles. i also hate the darkness of winter. morning and night. yuck. winter this year brings another sore. my baby will be one. i'm not looking forward to that.

it's almost as if in the fall season, the wheel is just winding up before it goes full speed down into the holidays. i wish i could stop the wheel for just a few more weeks to savor the beautiful colors, the crisp new apples, and the cool mornings.

finally! and ouch!

after a week of being down, my home pc is back up and running. but i did get a bit done while i was away. just kidding. i have a baby with a cold, thus most of my time was spent with him trying to either get him to sleep, or to not fall asleep. it's all very twisted.

and i got a couple of owies. if you don't like bloody pictures, turn away now, but if you are anxious and twisted and like to see what happens when an almost 30 year old woman takes a face plant on the sidewalk during an early morning run...read on...

wednesday morning, i was tired. really tired. my baby had been up for hours. but the only time i was going to get a run in was before big d went to work. so i went. i was tired, there were scary looking men at the end of the street where i usually go, so i went a different way. a major road. i have my dog. she is hyper and excited to be out running. she is not a big dog, but not really small. smallish, or medium size. but she is strong.

i was running in the road (against traffic) and there was a bunch of cars coming my way, so i jumped over to the sidewalk. unfortunatly, my tired shoe hit the lip of the sidewalk, and my dog pulled me the rest. my ipod earbuds pooped out as i hit the pavement. i think i said a few swear words and some pretend ones too. i know i said "frick" because i laughed at myself for saying "frick on a brick". i rolled over to see the damage. my hands were scraped and they burned. my knees were on fire and i could see blood starting to pool. and my chin. i know i hit my chin.

i rolled over and pulled out my phone and dialed big d's phone. 5 minutes into my run and i'm down the road. stupid. i put the phone away. i get up. "i'm a badass!" i say to myself, "keep on going". so i hobbled a bit and then started running again. my hands burned and swelled as i ran, but my bloody knees just went numb in the cool morning air.

i passed a few other runners. i'm sure i was quite the sight. i ronically, before i left for my run, big d had mentioned that he thought my legs were looking nice. as i finished my run (4 miles) i went inside and asked big d if he still thought i had nice legs. he was a bit surprised, especially when i told him it had happened 30 minutes earlier. harry was mortified, and chilly wouldn't let me walk him into preschool for fear of the other kids seeing my bloody wounds. my knees took the brunt, both pretty sore and bruised. my hands just have some minor scrapes. my left got a pretty deap on, but it on top of my hand and i have no idea how that happened. my chin didn't get anything, for which i am greatful!

they kill. i will forever feel badly for my kids when they skin their knees. i think i took a good layer off. i have a scrape on my hand that i think went down to the soft tissue. my knees are goopy and nasty and hot.

this is what i looked like when i got home:

and this is what i look like 2 days in

that is really gross.