Gobble

You bet we did! We had a very nice Thanksgiving. Our festivities began on Wednesday when we took our family to see "The Muppets". Good movie. And, the kids stayed in their seats for the most part, so I'll call that a success.

We had our Thanksgiving feast at my mom's house. Everett enjoyed the pie.

And the kids loved spending time with their cousins.

Lainey just slept and looked cute. It's a hard life.

We put up Christmas and went shopping and just enjoyed time together as a family.

I love my husband. Who says that men can't multi-task?

I just loved his smile in this one. I married myself a handsome man, yes I did.

This morning we are back to school and work and routines. It's a bittersweet thing. My boy is a miserable, clingy, snotty mess. I wish I had more sympathy for the kid as he's following me around hanging on my leg.

Falling

We have trees! With leaves! It's a first for us, and the kids were excited to go try them out. I showed them the proper way (is there a proper way? It just sounded good) to rake, throw, jump, and bury yourself in the decay. Oh, it was a good time. This particular day was freezing (it snowed later that night), but we enjoyed ourselves all the same. I'm thankful for Fall. Gap-toothed smiles are even better than the original:

We are excited for Thanksgiving festivities this week!

Lost

I warned you that this was coming: Sorry for the bloody photo. We could not have a more proud 5 year old. The tooth fairy delivered and brought her a whole dollar bill.

Here's a random photo of Ellie making blueberry muffins with her assistant:

You can see the mess on my kitchen counter - just keepin' it real :)

Growing Up

Ellie has a loose tooth. I couldn't believe it when she showed me that she could, indeed, wiggle that top incisor. My baby is growing up. It was the first wakeup for me that I won't be in this "my kids are little" stage forever, and honestly, it was a sad moment.

And more in the growing up department, look at my 'baby' that isn't much of a baby anymore:

What a beautiful girl.

Lainey is a month old.

Time really goes too quickly. Lately I've felt like I can't keep up with my own kids. I am always changing a diaper, or filling sippy cups, or trying to catch up with laundry, or cleaning up crayons off the floor. It's hard to find time to just sit and snuggle my babies, or do crafts with my girls, or chase Everett around the backyard. I need more time to enjoy my kids. Life gets in the way, ya know?

Ellie had her friends over the other day and they were discussing how nice their moms are, and Ellie says, "Except my mom, she's mean." I know it is only the beginning of such accusations. You know what that means, though? That means she doesn't get everything her little heart desires. In my book, that's a good thing. So, mean mom it is. I'm okay with that.

And now, I must go clean my house. Life is calling.

A Slice of Life

My Maren doesn't get naps anymore. Those stopped the day I went to check on her after putting her down for a nap and finding her perched on her second-story window sill with nothing holding her in but the screen. Mom freaked. She really doesn't miss them on most days, but sometimes she gets EXTRA ornery and I know she's just a little sleep deprived. Such was this day: Ellie and Maren were screaming over some toy that they both wanted (it only happens around here, like, at least once an hour). Maren got ahold of it and ran. I went to check on her later and found this. She had gone in their bedroom, locked the door, hid under the bed (only partially) and then fell asleep. Funny.

I learned yesterday that if any of my children were to be seriously ill or injured, this mom would be a whole big heap of a mess. Maren woke up complaining that her neck hurt. She spent the day on the couch and would scream in pain whenever she was moved. I was just a little freaked out, but tried to stay calm as I scheduled a doctor's appointment for later that afternoon. As the day progressed, and she was laying there crying and screaming in pain, I was ready to gather her up and head on over to the ER. I was imagining terrible, awful things. Thankfully, my sweet husband came to the rescue. He took her to her doctor appointment (um, probably because I was a sobbing mess by this point). Turns out she had an ear infection gone bad and the nodes in her neck were inflamed. All she needed was a round of antibiotics and some ibuprofren for the inflammation. She's all happy again today, thank goodness. I think that is one of the hardest parts about being a mom - when your kids are hurting and you don't know how to best help them. I don't want to over-react, or under-react, and the frugal part of me certainly doesn't want to pay for a doctors visit if it is unnecessary (side note: I hate it when people say, "Well, don't you have insurance?" Yes we have insurance, but I will certainly see that doctors visit come out of our bank account.) End of that story.

I feel I can't write a post without including one of these:
A photo of our sweet Lainey, nearly a month old already! She is starting to open her eyes a little more (appreciated in the daylight, not so much in the middle of the night). She has brought so much more joy into our home. We are so happy to have her.

Oh, and thank you, Cynthia, for the white chocolate covered popcorn. I just finished off the entire bag. So much for my 'I miss my real pants' diet. It was mostly air, right? And delicious...

Super Mom and some Halloween

When I was in the hospital, I had a favorite nurse. She was Lainey's night nurse in the Level II nursery, and she was just fabulous. Before I was discharged, she came in my room to say goodbye and wish us luck (really, an awesome nurse! She cared enough just to come say goodbye!). At the time, Nick and the kids were there and it was chaos - kids were climbing all over the hospital bed, pushing buttons, Everett had his hands all over Lainey's newborn face, and I'm sure Ellie and Maren were yelling at each other because that is what they do, and I could see it in this nurse's face, a look that said, "you have your hands full". In fact, it wasn't just on her face, she said it too, several times. Then she told me something like this, "You need to take time to recover. Don't try to do everything. I can tell that you are the super mom type, so you'll probably try to do it anyway, but just try and take it easy." This woman had only known me for a few days - in the hospital, no less, and had already labeled me as a 'super mom'. Perhaps it was because I took such care with my appearance? (Ha! I jest! I wore the hospital gowns the entire time, didn't mess with contacts, makeup, or even a bra ;) I DID take showers while I was there, I want you to know). What is it about me that would solicit such a response? I've felt the same vibe from friends and even people I've just met in our new ward. I am doing my best with what I've got, just like everyone else here, people. My house is messy, like, all the time. My kids are lucky to get their hair combed in the morning, and lately, I'm lucky to get a shower. I am far from organized. I yell a lot at my kids. I am far from a perfect mother and have melt-downs about my imperfections at least once a week (seriously, just ask Nick). I do have meals on a schedule, but that's only because food is important to me and I get pretty ornery when I haven't eaten. There you have it. I'm not really a 'super mom', I'm just trying to get through the days, just like most of you, I'm sure. I do the best I can, and what I feel is best for me and my family. I try to find joy in the little things and do the things that keep my sanity. There, needed to get that off my chest.

And now, I jump to photos of our Lainey: A photo to document that she was, indeed, dressed up for church. We took her for the first time last Sunday. She slept the entire time, and no one even peeked at her, which, is good for the germ aspect, but no saw how cute she was! After a four hour nap, she was not impressed that we were pausing to take photos before she got her lunch.

My kids CAN play nicely together sometimes. Look, here's proof:

Maren was the teacher, Ellie the student, and Everett was content looking at books. Of course, right after the photo was snapped, Maren climbed over, snatched Everett's book away and informed him that it was there for her to use at her disposal, and not for him (not in so many words, of course). It was nice while it lasted.

Okay, on to Halloween. Ellie was just so excited this year, she just couldn't stand it. The school Halloween Parade and party just added to all the fun and excitement. Once dad got home, we took the kids to trick-or-treat at their grandparent's house to get a special treat (plus giant handfulls of candy) and then a little later, they went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood and had a great time.

My little tiger hated having the hood up: And my four beautiful children all in one photo:

And just in case this blog post made you think I might be the perfect mom... I'm sitting here in my pajamas at 11 in the morning while my two middle children absolutely tear the playroom apart. Oh, and I should be folding and putting away laundry that's been waiting for me for about a week now. ;)