We're home

We returned home yesterday from the 5 day cruise to Progresso and Cozumel. We had such a fun time. We missed the kiddos a lot, but we were busy enjoying the food, service, scenery, and company on the cruise. I was excited to see them. I have a story about that for another time. I still have company in town and loads of laundry and unpacking to do, so I will save the stories for later, but I wanted to post some pictures. More will come later.

And a side note. Nathan did NOT like the sand. I wanted to get a gorgeous picture of him on the beach, but he wouldn't stop crying as long as he was touching the sand or the water!

A Mouse in the House?

I was in the middle of making supper. I was interrupted with something (probably the baby) and had to stop for about a minute. When I returned to grating the cheese, I found the block of cheese no longer on the plate with all these small bites taken. The guilty party? Spencer. The boy loves anything dairy, especially cheese. Maybe I should have gotten after him for putting his "germs" or not so clean hands on our perfectly good block of cheese (a mother's children cannot have germs, right?), but at the moment I thought it was just cute. Such small bite marks for a cute little two-year-old!

Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Mom! Today is my mom's 60th birthday. And, we are on a cruise to the western Caribbean in celebration of her birthday. There are 15 of us total, my mom, dad, and 7 of the 8 children (Eric couldn't come because of finals and a new baby in a few weeks, we miss you!) and 5 spouses. I brought little Nathan with me.

Church Pictures

I don't know why I love the pictures that my children draw that look like this. They all do it. I love how they start including details such as fingers, but they really emphasize the small details. And the pictures they draw just get better and more in proportion and the innocence slowly fades away into really great, mature drawings. I could just take these kinds of pictures and look at them for days with a smile on my face. I love the preschool drawing stage.

This is a picture Danielle brought home from church on Sunday. She explained that it is a drawing of Jesus getting baptized with a heart by her name. I asked who was baptizing Jesus, and it opened up a great opportunity to teach her that it was John the Baptist. I so appreciate all the wonderful people at church who volunteer their time to be teachers to the children. My children love their primary classes at church and learn so much.

And, I finally convinced Danielle that she needed to spell her name with the "e" at the end. Cute girl!

Parenting 101

The other day I was leaning across Nathan into the backseat of my minivan to buckle Spencer who was sitting crooked in his car seat so I could not get the buckles together (sorry for the run-on sentence, but it gets the point across of the frustration building). We had had a VERY long day on the go and I was still calm but getting impatient. I tried wiggling Spencer straight so I could buckle him and he kept squirming so I couldn't.

I look him straight in the eyes and exasperatedly said, "stop it!"

He looked right back at me and said, "no, you stop it!"

Usually at that moment I take privileges away, time out, etc. He should not talk to me that way. If he talks to me like that at age 2, what will it be like as a teenager (yes, I hear it all the time about just wait until you have teenagers)? But something hit me. This time was different. I had a reality check.

He said the exact same thing that I said to him in the exact same tone. It was an exact repeat of what I had just said.

And thus the title of this post. Parenting 101. This is what I learned from that moment: Our children mimic us. They copy us. They REALLY watch us. And, if we want to be treated with respect, we must show them HOW to treat with respect.

He did what I did.

I'm still amazed how much my children teach me about me.

The honesty of a child

A recent conversation with Taneal that happened while I was doing my hair:

Taneal: "Mom, when I grow up, I think I'm going to be real careful about how I look."

me: "Aren't you already pretty careful?"

Taneal: "Yah, but I'm going to make sure I stay careful."

I thought for a minute where she was going with this.

Me: "Do you not think I'm careful of how I look?"

Taneal: "Not, really."

Ouch! And to think I get dressed (and I must add something other then workout clothes) and put my makeup on everyday. I guess it is just one of those stages we must go through as we become true mothers. I remember thinking the same thing about my mom. Sorry mom!

Family Pictures

I finally rounded up my family (which was no small task) and had our pictures taken. I was supposed to have this done way before Christmas (to send out with the Christmas cards that never happened, the first time in 13 years!), but with Evan being gone until the end of November, that didn't work. Then with Christmas, illnesses, etc, it was put off even longer. We had them taken a few weeks ago and I got the results back. Ginger (the photographer) did a great job. I only posted a few of them, I'll wait to post the individuals as I write something up about each child. All of the pictures are great. I love Ginger's pictures. Enjoy!

And I still can't believe I have 5 children! I look at these pictures in awe that they are all mine! They are all so wonderful and so different and special and I love them so much. And I have such a terrific husband that works so hard to provide for us. Each day he comes home from work with his wonderful, dimply grin. I don't give him enough credit for the greatness he brings into our home. It is wonderful to have him home each day and to watch him interact with each of our children who get so excited to share with him stories from their day. I am so blessed to share all this with the man I fell in love with 14 years ago.

Infant Torticollis Update

I had Nathan's follow-up appointment for the Infant Torticollis. And for those of you who are not familiar with what this is, here is a definition:

“…a condition which affects the sternocleidomastoid muscle which connects the base of the skull to the collar bone. This muscle is the main muscle that is used to move the head from side to side. In an infant with Torticollis, the muscle is shorter on the side that the head is tilted to. With treatment, the muscle will grow and stretch; but if left untreated the condition may cause a permanent limitation of the infant's neck movement. If action is not taken, the infant's head may flatten on one side and the face may become mis-formed.”

The doctor was great. I was warned by friends that if I took him to the doctor it was a for sure helmet, which I did not want (unless it really needed). Two pediatricians agreed Nathan needed to see a specialist, so I went ahead and booked the appointment. The first appointment with the Cranial Facial Plastic Surgeon was the beginning of February. The doctor told me I needed to do neck stretches at every diaper change and ALOT of tummy time. Of course Nathan did not like this at all. When I went to stretch his neck, he fought it and made it harder to bend. I thought we were going backwards, not improving at all. I kept it up, I did not want him to have to wear a helmet.

At the appointment, the first thing the doctor did was ask me my opinion of how I thought his head looked. I really truly think his head looks so much better and it really isn't that bad. Evan thinks it still looks pretty flat and lopsided. So, that is what I told the doctor. He said that Nathan has a very mild case of Infant Torticollis, that it has improved so much since last time. He felt Nathan's soft spots, had Nathan turn his head. He then said "If it was my grandson . . . " I gave him a minute to finish his sentence and of course he didn't so I prodded him "That is the opinion I am after." So, he continued that if it was his grandson, he wouldn't do anything! Whew! He then said we could do the helmet if Evan really wants to, but it isn't necessary. And, Nathan's head will continue to improve as long as I continue the neck stretches and try my best to keep him off the back of his head. I can do that.

So I think we are good. I was very pleased that we don't need a helmet. Now I just need to figure out his food allergies and wheezing and then we are good to go.

What's for dinner

I got a great idea from my sister-in-law. I was looking at her blog and saw she had another blog with multiple contributors all devoted to recipes. I am in such a rut right now when it comes to dinner ideas. I could really use some help. So, I decided to copy the idea and start a blog where up to 100 people can put their recipes on the blog for anyone to view. I sent out an email earlier inviting people to become an author to the blog. I would love to share recipes that are tried and true and yummy. So, if you haven't already and would like to be a contributor to this blog, let me know and I will add you.

The blog is called What's For Dinner. Check it out.

Alligator Park

For Spring Break I took the children to an Alligator park. You walk along pathways that gators cross and are right there in the water. It sounded pretty scary, but my friend that I went with, assured me it was safe. I felt safe, but looking back at the pictures, I wonder if I should have felt that way. It was a lot of fun and the kids absolutely loved it.

Read the sign. And we took our kids there?

Spencer (above) is checking out the momma alligator and her 11 babies as shown in the picture below.

The babies are kind of camouflaged, they have yellow stripes.

Taneal, Camie, and Spencer are standing on the sore near the mom and babies. You can barely see the mom between Taneal and Camie's elbows.

Check out that snapper!

This alligator is sliding into the water.

And Spencer doing what little boys do best.

Right before we took this picture Taneal noticed a HUGE snake by their feet in the grass. We thought it was dead at first and then it slowly slithered away into the water. I took a picture of it and asked the ranger to identify it. It was a water snake but not poisonous.

Everyone that wanted was able to pet the real baby alligator held by the ranger.

Temple pictures

Saturday I was in the picture taking mood. I thought about getting some bluebonnets pictures with the children in their Easter dresses, but I didn't want to drive too far. The temple is only a few miles from my house, so I thought we'd head over there and snap some photos. I ended up taking 99 pictures (thank goodness for digital). These are some of my favorites.

St Patrick's Day

St Patrick's Day is a VERY fun holiday in my home. My children get almost as excited as they do for Christmas. The kiddos decorated their treasure boxes a few nights before. Then, on the Eve of St. Patrick's Day under the light of the moon, they left the lids off their boxes to see if the leprechauns would fill their boxes with treasures. And, sure enough, it worked! (Camie left the leprechauns some green food and a measuring cup with water and three miniature straws)

I bought them t-shirts this year and they loved them. They only had white t-shirts written in green for the boys and Spencer was pretty sad that his wasn't green like his sister's, so I had to buy Nathan one so Spencer wouldn't feel left out. Spencer wouldn't know what to do without another little boy to help him with what boys do and don't do (like lipstick, headbands, etc.)

And, everything we ate was green. Breakfast was green eggs (I added too much food dye), and for supper we had cheesy broccoli chicken rice casserole with green jello, a green salad, and green punch. We had green chocolate chip cookies for desert.

Photoshop fun

I have been playing around in photoshop, and look what I did! I have been taking pictures of our family and turning them into a drawing and the kiddos have had so much fun coloring pictures of themselves. Photoshop is so much fun! And I allow it to take so much of my time!

Nathan in his johnny jumper

I have had this Johnny Jumper since Taneal was born. Camie tried it along with Danielle and Spencer and none of them ever liked it. Nathan, yah well, he LOVES it! He jumps while I cook supper. It is so nice! I have so much fun watching him jump. I thought you'd like to see some of the things that make me smile.

Nathan's bath pictures

When my children are 6 months, I take them in to have bath pictures made, which I hang in the children's bathroom. Nathan is 6 months, so it was his turn. I just got them back yesterday and I really like them. I will hang the one where he is sitting in the tub. As soon as I get a chance I will scan all the bath picture so you can see what all my children look like at 6 months. They all look pretty similar. They all are so cute!
Why I like the one where Nathan is looking at the duck, I really don't know, but I do really like it. It just makes me laugh!