Gunnsmoke

Christmas 2011

2012-01-19T15:39:00.005-05:00

A miracle. A bit of snow the day before Christmas Eve.

An even bigger miracle. The rolls I made for Christmas Eve dinner (and orange rolls too, for dessert and breakfast).

I can't remember being more proud, at least of my accomplishments in the kitchen.

A big thank you to my friend Carolyn, for the tutorial and the faith : )

Paul was home.

The kids were excited.

Dinner was delicious (tri-tip, gouda potatoes, rolls, sparkling cider).

The kids each opened one present, as per tradition.

Noah loved making slime (from G&G)

Alex read her new Fancy Nancy books from Noah.

(A few days before Christmas he asked Paul to take him to the store so he could use his money to pick out a present for both of his sisters. We kind of couldn't believe it, it was awesome.)

Avery immediately undressed and snuggled the newest addition to her collection of babies (from G&G)

We finished up, by candlelight, The Christ Book, A Countdown to Christmas.

Something I put together for my family. Been wanting to do it for years, so glad I finally did, we loved it.

Also spent the week of Christmas reading "The Nutcracker" and "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". I think those will be a tradition now too.

Set our alarms and woke up at 6am Sunday morning - the kids insisted on doing ALL the gifts before 9am church : )

Everyone was happy!

Noah's favorite was his remote control helicopter (in the background)

Alex got the American Girl look-like-me doll that she's been "wishing for"

And Avery loved it all - but mostly the soda and goldfish she found in her stocking : )

I actually loved going to church on Christmas Day, it was a beautiful meeting.

And, bonus, we got a family pic!

We spent the afternoon playing with all our toys (helicopter, just dance, karaoke).

Oh yeah, and Avery started potty-training herself. No joke. She got undies in her stocking and there was no going back for her. I broke out the little potty and she took it from there.

Paul and I snuck in a little nap/rest.

We face-timed with the fam in different parts of the country.

And had fondue for dinner with our friends the Weights.

4 Christmases spent here in this home, in Rochester, MN.

I've loved them all.

The pictures wouldn't be appropriate

2011-12-23T14:37:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty certain that Santa is bringing Avery some underwear for Christmas.

Cuz lately, I keep finding her with no diaper on.

Pants, and no diaper.

A skirt, and no diaper.

A shirt and sneakers, and no diaper.

And, my personal favorite, a shirt and legwarmers...and no diaper.

(Like I said, the pictures wouldn't be appropriate.)

She's been asking to wear "Unnies"

and she's about to get her wish.

I really wasn't quite ready for this Avery, but you've left me no choice.

As for being done with diapers for.ev.er? Now that, I'm ready for!

The Entire month of NOVEMBER

2011-12-08T22:45:00.014-05:00

Paul working crazy (night shift) hours in the ICU (hate).

Thanksgiving, Noah's 8th Birthday, Noah's baptism and visits from the Grandparents (love).

{Because I'm never going to get to all these things individually...but I'm not ready to give up on this blog yet.}

Thanksgiving:

Great food,

great friends,

the kids had a blast (Noah says it was his best Thanksgiving ever),

Avery was a ham,

and the Bumans were amazing hosts!!

Thanks guys :)

A few days later...

Noah turned 8 years old.

We celebrated by taking Noah and Alex and 2 of their friends to the Mall of America to ride the rides. That's my kind of birthday party. Kids had a blast, Paul and I did a little shopping (not at the same time) and Avery had fun at home with a babysitter. Win win win.

We also had a family party on his actual birthday, with presents and lemon cake with lemon frosting.

A few days later...

Noah got baptized.

It was such an important day for Noah and our family. Everything went beautifully and we're so grateful that both sets of grandparents were there to share the day with us and be a part of it. We also had the love and support of many, many dear friends. We are so proud of Noah and we feel so blessed.

We also got the first (real) snow of the year that day, the kids could not have been happier.

And Paul surprised the kids with a tree. Not the best surprise ever, but they sure had fun decorating it.

November was busy. I'm not gonna lie, I got stressed out at times, I thought it was too hard some days. But there was also a lot of love, laughter, friends, family, and good food.

It's a wonderful life. And I am happy and grateful.

It ended on a High

2011-11-07T19:15:00.005-05:00

MY crew

THE crew

Thanks Carolyn and Katy! SO FUN.

Just being silly.

Or serious.

And this little bee...

she might have made my whole life with her cuteness.

Trick-or-treating with Avery might be one of the funnest (not a word) things I have ever done.

For. Reals.

You weren't there so you wouldn't know.

She loooooooooved it. No stroller necessary, she walked (read: ran) on her own for over an hour - bee wand in one hand, candy bag (or purse, as she called it) in the other.

Laughing. Running. Laughing. Falling. Laughing. Yelling.

Yes yelling. You know, things like

"MORE CANDY!"

"THEY NOT HOME!"

and

"CHOCOLATE!"

Thank you Avery. Halloween was worth it : )

Also noteworthy:

Alex picked out her and Avery's costumes - all her idea to match. Cutest ever.

When I was ready to bail with Avery, Paul made it home just in time to keep going with the big kids. He saved the day.

Noah outlasted everyone (as in he was trick-or-treating his way home with his friends dad, minus his friend. Thank you Kevin). Never seen such a haul.

Happy Halloween!

Now I can even say that and mean it : )

Avery would say it like this: I doe yike it

2011-10-29T17:46:00.003-04:00

I don't like Halloween all that much.

My husband hates it.

Our first problem this year was finding Noah a costume - because he wanted to be something creepy or gross, which I just wasn't having. We finally decided on a black ninja costume, I ordered it, and was glad to be done. I had to pay extra for shipping at that point to guarantee it would arrive the day before his costume parade at school.

The day before his costume parade at school the package arrived. I opened the box. When I saw a bunch of bright colors I knew we had a problem. When I lifted out the most hideous clown costume you have ever seen - I was just pissed.

I immediately called the company, the representative was neither very nice or helpful, and I was informed that the black ninja costume I'd ordered and paid for was completely out of stock, but would I like to choose something else??

Um NO.

So that night Paul and Noah were hitting up every Halloween store in town (pretty much Paul's worst nightmare) and having the same battle with Noah all over again.

There were gone for what seemed like forever. I got one text from Paul while they were out:

"I hate halloween."

Noah came home with a pirate costume - the same exact one I told him before he left that he could borrow from a friend. He insists it's not the same (it is).

Friday I got to haul my 2-year-old to not one but two costume parades at school.

Alex's was first. It wasn't too bad - just the morning kindergarten classes which meant it wasn't too crowded, and Avery only cried a little bit.

But I didn't get very good pictures on my cell phone:

We were back in the afternoon for Noah's parade. A lot more kids, a lot more parents - it's always a madhouse. We got there 15 minutes early and still had to park way too far away. We went to Noah's classroom to snap a few pics beforehand - Avery was screaming her head off and once again I didn't get any good pics on my cell phone:

Then we went outside to wait for the parade to go by. Avery was still screaming so I let her out of the stroller. The parade was passing and I had my phone in hand, watching for Noah's class. Next thing I knew there was a big commotion - and it took me a minute to realize my child was the cause of it. Avery had run into the middle of the pack of kids parading by and basically got trampled, slamming her head pretty hard into the asphalt. As I ran into the mass of swarming and confused children to scoop up my screaming and injured 2-year-old I heard another parent say (loudly) "Whose kid is that??"

I headed to the back of the crowd to calm Avery down - where she passed out in my arms (used to that by now). She came too really quickly and continued to cry. By the time I had her under control...the parade was over. I had missed Noah.

Luckily, a friend of mine was also there, saw what had happened and snapped a picture of Noah for me as he went by.

I also have to mention that just before Noah got trampled I was chatting with the mom standing next to me, it came up in conversation that I was a Mormon, and it seemed to me that she acted awkward. Was it just in my head, because of everything in the media right now? Maybe. I don't know.

Either way, I came home from the school costume parade wanting to cry.

Instead, I laid down on the couch, closed my eyes, and ignored my kids for awhile.

Oh yeah, and one more thing. As we were leaving, I saw another parent using her iphone to take pics of her kid...and zooming in.

what?? my iphone camera can zoom??

I. am. an idiot.

And.

I don't much like Halloween.

In case anyone still reads this blog

2011-10-23T19:43:00.013-04:00

We are moving here:

Medford, Oregon

: )

We couldn't be happier.

Best job, best place for our family.

Still doesn't seem quite real, been wishing/hoping for it for so long.

But in June, when Paul graduates from residency, that's where you'll find us.

Paul interviewed out there last summer.

Let me tell you, it was rough.

He took some nice country drives,

visited a farm,

did some bee-keeping,

and went salmon fishing!??

And spent time with our friends the Sykes.

Yeah, it was quite the interview.

While he was texting me pictures like that I was texting him pictures like this:

Avery causing all kinds of (usual) trouble and chaos

and Avery busting her chin open (of course when the Dr. is not in the house - or even the state).

But he also sent me pictures like this:

the hospital

the library (per my request)

and the temple.

Yes Medford has a temple.

And an airport.

This is pretty much the whole thing you see here, which is awesome : )

It also has a Costco and a Great Harvest Bread Co.

AND we just got official word that REI and Trader Joe's are coming soon!

Seriously, we were meant for this place.

Within driving distance to both of our families.

And did I already mention our friends the Sykes??

: )

But while we were waiting to hear back from Medford Paul also interviewed in Reno, Nevada.

Where he golfed with my dad my 2 brothers and both of my brothers-in-law.

Yeah, these interviews were rough.

Avery did not bust her chin open while he was gone this time but I did have a little incident with a "gas leak" and a barbie. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Ok, but really, thanks for showing him a good time dad.

He deserved it.

And thanks for landing us the job we wanted Paul!

I really am so proud. You work so hard and are dedicated to what you do. One of the reasons I married you : )

(Paul likes to tease me that I married him for the money - my response to that is I probably could have thought of a faster way...)

And so...we're going to be west coasters!

Hurray!

I went here:

2011-10-22T21:52:00.004-04:00

I went with my husband, who went for a conference.

He was pretty busy during the day but we got to do:

a 6 hour road trip, both ways - one way included a stop at the outlets (I scored)

dinner together every evening (so good)

Second City (hilarious)

and a lazy Sunday together (much needed).

And anyways, my sister Tiffany lives in Chicago which only made the trip even better.

We spent 2 entire days together WITHOUT. ANY. KIDS. It's only been like, ooooohhh, 5 years or so since we've been together without kids.

Saying it was awesome is like the understatement of the year. It makes me happy just thinking about it.

So we:

Shopped

Ate

saw a movie (Footloose, which, embarrassingly, was so much fun).

And that pretty much covers it.

That and talking talking talking and laughing till we cried and wondering how the time was going by so fast.

Thank you thank you Tiffany - for clearing your schedule to spend so much time with me, making arrangements for Madden, and hosting us on Sunday.

I did of course get to see my nephew Madden on Sunday and Monday - he was as cute, funny, and easy going as I remembered.

I also got to do some very important things like:

sleep uninterrupted every night

Wake up when I felt like it

Take my time getting ready

Wear cute clothes

and read a book while soaking in the bath in the middle of the afternoon.

And I can't talk about the trip without talking about the food. My favorites of the trip:

Seafood Salad

Lobster Bisque

Bread Pudding Pancakes

Sprinkles Cupcake

and

White Chocolate Salted Caramel Pretzel Pancakes (those alone might have been worth the drive)

Best. Trip. Ever.

Or at least what I needed most right now.

All while my children were in the capable hands of my mother-in-law, who so kindly offered to come out and stay with them.

They had the time of their lives and were pretty heartbroken (as in sobbing) when she had to leave.

We can't thank you enough Lezli!

Paul - thanks for doing a research project, presenting a poster, and giving a talk at the conference so we could go on this lovely trip : )

And. As lovely as it was, it's always lovely to come home to my 3 kids. My real life here with them is pretty good.

2 Years

2011-10-20T01:00:00.004-04:00

2 years ago today, me and Avery.

One of the best days of my life.

Today, me and Avery.

Oh my gosh I love this girl!

Still pretty clueless about the whole birthday thing, but repeated us all day long

"Avery's birthday"

"happy birthday"

"I two"

and even attempted to sing the Happy Birthday song.

Loved her party, just the family.

Here's an action shot:

Avery's favorite things were:

some new books

A doll

Her own purse full of goodies (now maybe she'll stay out of mine - but probably not)

A baby and a stroller

A shopping cart full of groceries

And a giant. stuffed. dog. Thank you Noah.

We had cake and ice cream.

Avery was so excited when we sang to her : )

Avery you are everyone's little sweetheart. You make me crazy but you also fill my heart with happiness. I cried as I tucked you into bed tonight. It's ok to keep growing up, I just don't want to forget - your sweet little faces, your funny little laugh, the cute way that you talk. Your arms around my neck and your breath on my check when I put you to bed at night.

Happy Birthday baby girl - I love you forever.

We've been loving it

2011-10-08T11:00:00.003-04:00

It's Fall

The weather has been beautiful.

And the kids have been playing outside ev.er.y.day.

First thing in the morning, before school.

As soon as homework is done, after school, until it's dark.

Raking leaves

Collecting sticks

Rolling down the hill in the leaves

Chalk art

Dinner on the deck

If only it were here to stay...

My Girls

2011-10-01T21:16:00.003-04:00

Me: Alex, your screen time is up for the day

Alex: Ugh. Well that is so boring. I can't even look out the windows.

Me: Why??

Alex: Uh....screens mom.

Avery: MOM! WHE O YU?? (where are you?)

Me: In the bathroom Avery.

Avery, banging on the door: IS LOCKT!! I MISS YU! (it's locked! I miss you!)

Avery, banging on the bathroom door: MOM! YU TATIN A BATCH? IS LOCKT! YU AW DUN?? (mom! You taking a bath? It's locked. You all done?)

2 weeks in

2011-09-15T16:23:00.005-04:00

So the kids started school.

Hallelujah.

I love my kids, and summer time is fun but I was ready.

And the truth is, so were they.

Noah, our super cool second grader, pretends he doesn't like school.

But he couldn't wait to meet his teacher, buy school supplies, etc etc.

His first day of school I was bursting with excitement (not just for me, I promise) and when I asked him for the 57th time, "Noah are you so excited?!" he responded with, "Mom. School is not fun for me. When are you going to get that?"

My kids are so awesome.

Alex started Kindergarten 2 loooong days later.

She was ready and excited.

And maybe a tad bit nervous.

She got Mrs V.

Same teacher Noah had and pretty much the best in the world.

She's also got her best buddy Carter in her class - never mind that the teacher has already had to separate the two of them to get them to stop talking and pay attention.

Alex's first day was a little rough on Avery.

Eventually I had to pry her off kicking and screaming for Alex.

It was sweet. And sad.

(10 minutes later it was just kind of annoying.)

Good thing Kindergarten is only half day!

This year the first week of school was a little crazier than usual as we were staying at our friends house taking care of their 5 kids.

(and just to clarify, when I say "we" I mean "me" and my 3 kids.)

Luckily, they're great kids.

Still, I was not meant for 8 kids. Or cooking for 10.

We had an exhausting good time though : )

My kids were outside doing this every morning before school...

Cute.

What else?

The girls are inseparable lately. It's fun.

Alex still likes to change her outfit several times a day and now Avery does it too, but she wears Alex's clothes.

She ends up looking kind of like a clown. But a cute one.

Alex is getting tall, grown up looking, and more and more independent.

She even got herself a bowl of cereal the other day.

Except Paul and I couldn't stop laughing because she used a gigantic serving bowl (and about half a box of cereal and a gallon of milk).

The picture doesn't do it justice.

Avery will be 2 next month. Which is just plain crazy.

And crazy is what she makes me. The terrible twos are pretty bad in our house, and I think I'm getting less patient. When I can't take it anymore Noah and Alex come to the rescue. It's funny how the things that drive adults crazy don't seem to bother the kids at all. And they cannot stand it when I have to discipline Avery. This is how youngest children get spoiled.

Oh this girl...

I go back and forth all day between wanting her to stay my super cute, sweet, cuddly, funny little girl - and wanting her to grow up a little (but just a little) and quit being so naughty, clumsy, dangerous, and maddeningly irrational before my brain explodes.

In conclusion:

School is great. Kids are doing well. I get to go to the gym every day. We are busy. I love fall but I'm scared to death for winter.

The Baby

2011-08-30T00:19:00.002-04:00

So I've noticed that people are surprised when they hear us refer to Avery as "the baby".

Yeah, she's close to 2. And she does lots of big girl things.

Like sleep in a big bed. Drink out of regular cups (I hate this).

And as of last night...does NOT have a binky. Because she's lost them all, I'm sick of searching for them and I'm not buying anymore because she's old enough to go without.

Avery is not too happy about the situation. This was her self-talk when I put her to bed without a binky for the first time last night:

"Binky. Binky. Find it. All gone. Binky all gone. Find it! No, binky all gone. Owie! Owie my mouth! Binky! No binky. Binky all gone. I fine. I fine. Scary! Scary! Scary! No. No, not scary. Nice. You fine. You fine. Nice. I sleeping. Binky!"

Repeat for....oh, about 25 minutes. Interspersed with some crying and thrashing around in bed. Followed by a loooong and loud scream it out session.

The baby is kinda crazy.

Wouldn't take her nap today, but bedtime was a little smoother tonight.

Next stop...potty training.

Don't worry, we'll still be calling her "the baby"

It's a pretty big deal

2011-08-22T11:51:00.006-04:00

The kids and I recently took a little trip to the

WISCONSIN DELLS.

Which I'm sure you've never heard of but we've been hearing about for the past 3 years, since we moved to Minnesota.

It's kind of a strange little place. My sister described it as

"a disneyland/carnival/theme park/waterworld/las vegas in the middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin"

I'd say that about sums it up.

Anyways, my mom and little bro Landon were visiting my sister Tiff in Chicago so we decided to meet up.

The Dells made perfect sense, being about halfway between here and Chicago.

The kids were sooo excited to see cousin Madden!

And Aunt Tiff, Grandma, and Uncle Landon.

First thing we did was take a DUCKS tour. A vehicle made for land and water.

Everybody loved it (the tour guide most of all)

Then we checked into our room at the indoor/outdoor waterpark resort we would spend the next couple of days at.

The room was AWESOME!

Plenty of space for the kids to run around, enough rooms so we could put kids to bed then stay up way too late talking and watching movies, a huge kitchen to prepare meals in, and of course a jetted tub in the middle of the living room.

Half of Monday, all day Tuesday, and half of Wednesday we were here.

And yes, mostly inside since it was freezing outside! The indoor waterpark was bigger and better anyways. Noah loved every minute of it and Alex shocked me with how brave she was. She'd go on anything I told her to, there was nothing we did that she didn't do too.

There was a great play area for the toddlers too, everyone had a blast.

So much so that we didn't take any pictures.

Wednesday afternoon we headed over to the Deer Park, a main attraction in The Dells (like I said, a strange little place).

The deer roam free and the kids get to feed them and pet them.

The toddlers...hated it. Totally freaked. I couldn't put Avery down even once.

The big kids liked it, although some of those deer were a little agressive.

My favorite was when Alex, laughing nervously as the deer swarmed around her said, "I rather wish they were in a cage!"

We got one last picture of the cousins and then it was time to say goodbye and head our separate ways.

It was a quick little trip but so much fun!

Thanks mom for organizing it!

p.s. I love having my sister a mere 6 hours away. I'm going to be so sad when that comes to an end. Tiff are you sure you guys want to move back to AZ?? A better idea would be to wait and see where we are moving and then base your plans around that : )

in pictures

2011-08-04T23:46:00.006-04:00

Random things we've done this summer that I've never blogged about:

The pool.

Thank goodness Noah can swim and Alex sorta can, cuz keeping Avery alive is plenty for me to worry about.

Outings with friends.

I love that the kids are getting older so we can do more stuff and with more people. I mean you could never take five 2 and 3 year olds to the zoo by yourself. But five kids ranging in age from 18mos - 9years? No problem.

(It also helps that one of those kids is Hannah and I never had to worry about Avery, ever) : )

Golf lessons for Noah.

Parents were invited to come and watch the last day. I made arrangements for the girls and basically acted as Noah's caddy for the next three hours. It was actually really fun! I sort of understand now why people like to golf...it was so beautiful and peaceful on the course.

Going away dinner for the Fowlers.

Paella of course. And lots of other yummy dishes.

4th of July BBQ

at our house with the Kivelas and Freemans.

Good food, good company, good fireworks. Even if Avery was a little freaked - she was comforting herself the entire time, "I fiiine, I fiiiine."

Later that night we put Avery and Dad to bed and me and the big kids went to the real fireworks show - where we were cold, got eaten by mosquitos, listened to Alex whine, and both of the kids fight about which fireworks going off were meant for who. And then it took us 45 minutes to make the normally 3 minute drive home. Kids went to bed around midnight and woke up about 6am. Good times.

Actually, Noah loved it, it was totally worth it : )

Newport Beach with the Gunn Family.

On the way to the airport we got stuck in a horrible storm. We couldn't see a thing, everyone was pulled off the freeway. I broke out the iphone to make sure there were no tornado warnings - nope, just severe lightning, strong winds, flash floods, and hail. The weather alert recommended staying away from windows...which we were of course surrounded by in our van. I told Paul, at least it wasn't a tornado. They recommend that you get out of your vehicle and lay in the nearest ditch - but the ditch next to us was quickly filling with water.

It was pretty exciting (i.e. scary)

BUT the storm cleared and we made our flight(s).

Good thing we brought carry-ons.

Newport was great. It was soooo nice to have Paul there with me this time around. Not being pregnant (i.e. totally miserable) also helped : )

The kids had tons of fun with the cousins (even some really distant cousins) playing in the water and digging in the sand.

Noah's most favorite activity was looking for sea creatures out on the rocks.

Paul made him a snare to catch crabs with (and it really worked)!

It was actually really big. Ask Susan : )

Besides sitting on the beach and having Paul around I miss:

running with my sisters--in-law

eating a donut (or 3 or 4) for breakfast everyday

frozen yogurt almost every night

and several trips to the Crab Cooker for some great seafood.

Yeah it's all about the food for me. And the family : )

Soon it was time to head back to our real life.

At least Alex did so with cute hair (thank you Aunt Ginger).

Avery did more of this

And even a little of this!

Now we're home and

Avery is in a big girl bed.

What the crap.

Another month of summer.

But (most days) I'm ready for the kids to go back to school : )

A typical Sunday evening

2011-07-18T00:05:00.003-04:00

Just got done going over my calendar for the next week and making my to-do list. (Nothing in my life would happen without either of those things. did that sentence just make sense?)

So. It's a pretty full week. Like crazy busy. So much so that I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment, wondering how I'm going to get it all done, make it all happen. But it's hard to get any sympathy from the husband when 95% of those things on the calendar revolve around the social lives of my kids...and ok, me : ) Yeah, we're livin' the life.

And did I mention that soon we head to Newport Beach for a week? WITH Paul!?! That fact alone makes me smile : ) We're not even going to know what to do with him...

Anyways. It's not the social events themselves that are the problem - it's the stuff in between. I guess what I'm saying is wouldn't it be awesome if my only job was to entertain my kids? Now I just need someone to cook, clean, run errands, do laundry, and grocery shop for me. Oh yeah and exercise for me. On second thought, just take care of my kids while I do that one myself...

Or...I guess we could always cut out a few of the events on our social calendar. But where's the fun in that??

Residency will do that to you

2011-07-07T10:41:00.002-04:00

I think I need to change my blogger picture. The one that shows up by my name when I leave comments and such? It was taken 3 years ago, at the beginning of residency. Not all that long ago but I swear it doesn't even look like me. I've aged. Residency will do that to you. (Paul now has gray hairs, which he thinks is awesome).

The other day I was feeling like one more year of residency is one year too long. But then I ask myself, how much are things really going to change?? It's true that anesthesia is not the worst residency out there, by any means. But Paul puts a lot into it. Arriving (super) early, staying late, studying at home, reading up on his cases each night, research projects, moonlighting. Ok so hopefully he wont need to moonlight when we're done : ) (Which I am so glad that he does for us right now!!) But I have a feeling some of the other stuff wont change much. Really though, I'm glad he is the way he is. He works hard, he's prepared, he's good at what he does. He takes good care of our family.

And while I know Paul is excited for residency to be over so he actually has time for friends (which residents don't have) I'm sad to say goodbye to this phase of my life, where my friends have been everything to me.

So sometimes I wonder...what's so great about being done?!?

This is the only life we've known. Nine years of school/training, long/crazy hours, living far from family, relying on the support of friends who become like family.

I'm just sayin' it might be kinda weird when it's not like that. And yes, I may be feeling a little sentimental. I have a feeling I'll be feeling that way all year...

Having said all of this, the truth is, I'm still excited : )

And I should probably change my blogger picture.

It's Official

2011-07-01T20:02:00.002-04:00

Noah and Alex had Nature Camp each morning this week.

They both love it, but especially Noah. It's right up his alley.

It's seriously one of his favorite things each summer.

I had to get a picture of Alex on her first day though.

Because, yes, she really went looking just like this.

I made her wear shorts, which she hates and refuses to wear under normal circumstances, so the only ones she would put on were her sweat shorts.

She also hates shoes and socks, but they are also a nature camp requirement.

Wearing your socks pulled up to your knees is just an Alex requirement.

As were the purple sunglasses : )

Noah of course declined having his picture taken.

But he's really hoping we can get him into one of the first summer sessions of Nature Camp next year.

Because...one year from now, we'll be gone.

We're down to our last year here in Rochester.

After going back and forth manymany times and thinking we'd had our minds made up more than once, Paul has officially decided not to do a fellowship.

So we'll be taking a job...somewhere : )

It's exciting and nerve-wracking and scary and sad all at the same time.

I try not to think about saying goodbye to my friends because I'd rather not spend the entire next year crying my eyes out.

But one year?? That's crazy, it's gonna go by so fast.

So here's to one more year in Rochester,

the job search,

finally being DONE,

and hoping for a great Nature Camp (as well as a few other things) wherever we end up : )

I promise to keep you posted.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-21T00:41:00.004-04:00

Paul was working, the kids and I had just gotten home from church. The big kids decided to play outside, and a few minutes later Noah asked me to help him turn off the hose. I stepped outside to help, it only took about 45 seconds. And then Noah said, "Mom, the door's locked."

"No it's not" I said.

Um yes. It was. Avery had locked us out. And herself in.

No, she's never tried this before, never even touched the locks before (she stood on the stairs and turned the deadbolt for crying out loud)!

I've got no keys. No phone. No husband. And for a minute there, no clue what to do.

Yes I was panicing a little - my very accident prone toddler was trapped in the house ALONE.

So. I sent Noah about three blocks up the hill (never done that before) to our friends house to get help. Waited for what felt like forever, only to have him come back alone - they weren't home. Sent him back up the hill and in the opposite direction to another friends house, and we got lucky. She was just getting home.

Carolyn drove down with her kids and Noah (her husband was at work too, a fellow anesthesia resident) and we attempted to page Paul at work. Attempted, because in my frazzled state...I couldn't remember his pager code. Yes I am serious.

So Carolyn paged her husband, filled him in, and he went to find Paul for us.

More waiting.

Jeff called back and informed us that Paul was in the middle of a major trauma.

SO AM I!! I screamed. But he let Paul know what was going on, got the combo to his locker, and went to get the keys. Carolyn left the kids with me and drove to the hospital to collect them.

Meanwhile, I can no longer hear Avery through the door. So we all headed for the back, to see if we could see her through the sliding glass door.

We could see her alright. ON TOP OF THE KITCHEN TABLE. Feeding herself the kids leftover cereal from breakfast that morning.

So my baby is on the kitchen table which is now slippery and wet with spilled milk. It just keeps getting better.

I start yelling through the glass, trying to talk her down. And she gets right up to the edge and teeters there for awhile.

And this is where I had a serious anxiety attack.

For the next 10 minutes, things were pretty precarious and as I'm coaching Avery on getting down from the table I'm simultaneously looking for something I can use to smash through the sliding glass door - because it looks like she's going to fall on her head any minute.

Luckily, she did not. She got herself safely down...and then started mopping the floor. Or smearing soggy cereal and milk all over the kitchen floor.

I stayed by the door and tried to keep her attention so she wouldn't leave my sight. A couple of times I had to yell at her NOT to get back onto the table. She obeyed.

And finally FINALLY Carolyn (our rescuer!) arrived with the keys.

And my baby was safely back in my arms.

All told, Avery spent about 1 hour 10 minutes alone in the house that afternoon. It felt a whole lot longer to me...

And I held it together for about another half hour, when suddenly I'm feeding Avery mac&cheese and bawling my eyes out.

But to understand that, I should back up just a little. That afternoon was simply the final straw in a series of unfortunate events.

It started a couple of weeks ago, when Paul was out of town and I was concerned about a possible gas leak in my home and had to call a friend at 10pm to come and check it out for me. Nope, not a gas leak. Nope, not telling what it actually was. (Bumans, if you tell, I'll tell the dishwasher story!)

About a week later there was Avery's crash into the brick fireplace, again Paul was out of town, and I had to call a friend to come and check her out. No she didn't need stitches or anything at all really. But how was I to know, I mean her face was bleeding?!?

Then Father's Day.

If there is a moral to this story (other than that Avery is crazy, I am crazy, and we are all crazy) it's that I am surrounded by amazing friends. Friends who drop everything at a moments notice, no matter the time of day or night, to help us. Friends who don't make me feel stupid when the gas leak isn't really a gas leak, my baby doesn't really need medical attention, and I get locked out of my house by a 19 month old.

We've lived far away from family for almost our entire married life. My husband is gone a lot. But I don't feel alone. I feel blessed.

And yes, sometimes crazy. Like 2 days ago when Avery climbed onto a kitchen chair and then fell off and landed on her head, and even today, when she fell down the stairs. Again.

On a more positive note, I made Paul a killer Key Lime Pie on Father's Day : )

see previous post

2011-06-16T20:21:00.003-04:00

This is what Avery did a couple days ago.

When her dad was out of town, no less.

Not great pictures (since she is in constant motion)

and it turned out to be not that bad.

But it was bad enough that I had to have someone come look at it.

And it certainly looked bad when I jumped out of the shower, after hearing all three kids screaming hysterically, to find Avery's face covered in blood.

The ironic part...just as I was finishing up this post...Noah smacked his head open.

No joke.

At least dad is here this time.

Please don't call child services

can't. keep. up.

2011-06-12T19:39:00.002-04:00

Avery is kind of a disaster.

All day. Every day.

Good thing she is so super cute, right?

That's what I thought the other day when she dove into Alex's bath fully clothed.

(and right after she'd had her own bath and been dried off and dressed in clean pajamas)

It was shortly after re-drying her off, and re-dressing her

that I found her in the kids room.

On top of the furniture.

With her hand in the fish tank.

Soaking wet again, fish tank water everywhere, and trying to squeeze Oshi to death.

(I did not take a picture this time - I was having a hard time seeing the cuteness.)

Tonight, after a few minutes on the phone, I walked into the kitchen and found this.

Cheerios.

Spilled milk.

Baby on the table.

(who has removed her pajamas and is somehow, inexplicably, wearing one of Alex's t-shirts inside out?)

Good thing she is so super cute right??

RIGHT??!?!!!?

Home

2011-05-30T23:36:00.003-04:00

Our last week in Florida we tried to soak up and enjoy every last minute of every last day at the beach.

It was hard to say goodbye to this...

sigh.

But our two months were up.

And we started our journey home.

This picture was taken during the first hour of the first day on the road...which is about how long our smiles lasted.

Let's just say it was a lot more fun to drive to Florida and into the warmth than it was to do the reverse.

We made it home in 4 days and I pretty much don't want to talk about it.

Except for the night that we stayed with our great friends the Johnstons!! Thanks guys, we loved spending time with you again!!!

Anyways. We survived (with our sanity hanging by a thread, thanks mainly to Avery).

And as sad as I had been to leave Florida, I was excited when we drove into Rochester : ) And I was downright giddy when I walked through my house. And seeing my friends again? Well, I could have kissed them all (oh wait I think I did)!

So we are home. And life is still good.

But those two months in Florida were special.

So grateful for the time we got to spend there as a family and for all the memories we made!

DW

2011-05-18T17:33:00.005-04:00

Just got back from Disney World!

Where we spent time with these guys...

and these guys.

It went a little something like this:

4 Days

4 different parks

Early mornings

Late (late) nights

Fun

Food

and HEAT.

We left Jacksonville early on a wednesday morning and headed straight for Hollywood Studios.

We spent the day there, my parents and my sister's family spent the day on a plane.

The highlights:

Avery totally surprising me by loving the Beauty and the Beast Show (singing, dancing, cheering and clapping through the whole thing).

Noah's and Alex's faces as the elevator fell on Tower of Terror - yeah, I felt like a bad mom but I also couldn't stop laughing!

The take-off on the Rock'n Rollercoaster, 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. C.R.A.Z.Y.

Mango Slushie - best. thing. ever. in that heat.

Oh yeah, and Avery dancing at the Pixar Pals Parade : )

Spent the next day in Magic Kingdom with the whole fam.

Had to take a pool break back at the condo in the middle of the day, the heat was just too intense.

Not to worry though, we came back that evening and stayed till close - 11pm.

Which equaled getting home at 1am. With three small children.

A monorail ride, a tram ride, a car ride...with lots of waiting in between.

It was worth it though! (we think)

Saw the Main Street Electrical Parade, the light show on the castle, and the fireworks.

Loved:

Space Mountain with Noah

Peter Pan with Alex

Magic Carpet Ride with Avery

Splash Mountain with Paul (who got soaked)

Buzz Lightyear with the cousins

and a whole lot more!

Day Three was spent at Blizzard Beach.

Avery loved the water...but man she drove me crazy that day!

And the ground was so scorching hot that I think we all felt like the skin had been scorched off the bottoms of our feet by the end of the day. Not to mention all the stairs we climbed...with struggling toddlers on our hips.

Exhausting.

But fun, and nice and cool : )

Noah did some of the biggest and fastest slides with his dad.

Alex was super proud she did the tube slide that shoots you out into deep water.

But my favorite was Teamboat Springs, the family tube ride even Avery could go on - which was actually pretty crazy considering how wild and fast it was! She loved it : )

Our last day we went to Epcot.

It was so beautiful, we just happened to be there during the flower and garden festival.

Amazing.

Rode Test Track and Soarin (a definite favorite)

and even Mission Space (which made me sick for an hour).

Avery's favorite was Nemo.

Took a boat ride to "Morocco" where we ate a delicious lunch.

A great (hot) day!

And a great trip!

No one really wanted to go home - except for maybe the grown-ups : )

Not gonna lie, the heat and the crowds and the kids...it was exhausting.

But so worth it!

We'd go back in a second. In fact, I think I've converted Paul : )

Mission Accomplished.

To Us

2011-05-17T10:43:00.002-04:00

9 Years ago today...

and still happy together.

Happy Anniversary!

Did I tell you that we thought about moving here??

2011-05-07T20:27:00.004-04:00

Ok so we don't really want to move to the opposite end of the country as all of our family members...

but it's certainly nice to be somewhere that people want to come and visit you!

My sister Tiff and her friend Ashley came to visit (from Chicago) with kids in tow.

For a grand total of 10 people in our 3-bedroom apartment.

It was awesome : )

I love this pic of all the kids in the beach tent (minus baby Reese).

It was a little crazy, yes.

But totally worth it!!

Alex loved having a new best friend

(miss you Zoe!)

And the kids loved their cousin time...mostly : )

It was great to have a family photographer too.

We loved going to a different beach everyday, eating good food, drinking lots of coke, staying up late...

Mostly though, it was just great to have my sister here with me.

We love and miss you guys!!

So glad you came : )

my sister's blog post about the trip is better than mine.

you can read it here

I just have one thing to add Tiff...

"I thought you would be average..."

: )

When Grandma came to Florida

2011-05-06T19:32:00.010-04:00

We went to the beautiful Amelia Island

and stayed on the beach for the weekend.

You can't beat having the beach right out your back door.

We practically had the place to ourselves.

And this tidepool was perfect for Avery.

A great weekend, it was hard to leave.

When Grandma came to Florida

we went to the Alligator Farm

and watched a man get into a pit with 37 alligators and feed them.

Rats.

We even got to feed the alligators ourselves

(but not rats).

It was pretty awesome.

When Grandma came to Florida

we drove around the beautiful and historic St Augustine.

(this is the only picture my mom did not take herself - although we did drive across this bridge)

Then spent the afternoon playing at Crescent Beach,

which turns out to be my most favorite beach of all.

When Grandma came to Florida

we took a water taxi ride downtown,

ate lunch on the river,

and played at the Science Museum.

When Grandma came to Florida

we (of course) took her to our favorite local beaches so the kids could show off their skills.

When Grandma came to Florida

we had one AMAZING week!!

Love you mom, thanks for coming

(and thanks for the pics)

: )

My feet.

2011-04-23T17:13:00.001-04:00

My view.

No time to blog - it's going by way too fast already!!

Week One

2011-04-11T21:34:00.003-04:00

went to the beach (almost) every day.

love.

didn't even make it to the pool right here at our place until saturday (after the beach)

because who wants the pool when you could be at the beach??

we did make it to the Jacksonville Zoo one day.

so so cool.

and beautiful.

Noah loved...everything

Alex loved the misters

Avery loved being in her stroller - not a peep for 3 1/2 hours

Paul ended up with a three day weekend and finally got to enjoy FL with us.

Going to work today was hard for him I think : )

made a couple of purchases over the weekend - we are now a true "beach family"

except for the beach chairs - which Paul reminded me I would NEVER be sitting in, chasing my 3 kids around the beach by myself most days.

Yeah, I had to practice setting it up by myself.

Success!!

and I couldn't get this kid out of the ocean today.

try not to hate us.

I pinch myself every day that I get to LIVE here for two months!!

oh yeah, and Noah lost another tooth.

and then literally lost the tooth.

love the note he left under his pillow : )

Road Trip

2011-04-06T09:47:00.003-04:00

Day One:

Stayed at a waterpark in some tiny town in Iowa. The kids loooved it.

Day Two:

Drove through Illinois and stopped off at Nauvoo for a couple of hours.

Made a rope at the Family Living Center, got a brick at the kiln, ate a gingerbread cookie at the bakery. Noah loved it. Avery is not going back until she is MUCH older.

And somewhere in Missouri this happened too -

Drove on to St Louis where we stayed for the night.

Huge room, so nice. Swam (er hot tubbed) with the kids and ordered pizza.

Day Three:

Stopped at 7-11 in downtown St Louis where we were afraid for our lives.

Then did the St Louis Arch.

Pretty cool.

Then back on the road.

Stayed in Nashville, Tn that night.

The kids embarrassed us at a mexican restaurant.

And Noah barfed in the car when I made him clean up the mess he made in his cup holder (soggy goldfish floating around in juice).

Day Four:

Stopped at Old Stone Fort State Park in TN. Hiked around, saw the falls and the indian ruins.

Drove on to Atlanta Georgia.

Stayed with our good friends the Laings.

Had so much fun, thank you Steve and Kim!

Day Five:

Drove the last 6 hours into Florida!!

Picked up Paul's rental car, stopped at the hospital to get keys to our place, got settled in the apartment, got a few groceries.

Exhausting Day.

Didn't stop me and the kids from hitting the beach the next day!

We are in love.

And sunburnt.

3 weeks later

2011-03-22T17:23:00.005-04:00

I could blog about how sick we've all been, and how sick I still am 3 weeks later, but that would just be depressing. But really, if we ever needed a reminder that we cannot do another pregnancy (we didn't) this was it. I'm on my second round of antibiotics and I need to get better SOON.

We are headed to Florida in 8 days (hence the need to get better SOON). We will be there for 2 months. The current temperature in Jacksonville is 86 degrees. Visitors welcome : )

We are driving. Our kids are not car kids. Paul does not cope well with kids screaming in the car (why can't he just ignore it, like me??). So we are taking 5 days to do it, with lots of fun stops on the way.

Paul took the kids to the library last night and Noah came home with books about all the different states we're driving through. With maps. Love that kid.

Avery insists on wearing her hoodie, with the hood on, everysingleday. Like a gangsta. Except that her hoodie is pink with flowers on it. I think Avery is cuter and funnier everyday. Her whole life I have been thinking to myself, "I wish she would stay this age forever." Maybe I will keep thinking that for the whole rest of her life? Love that girl.

Avery is finally talking. She says everybody's name (and lots more), but the person she asks for the most is Alex. Alex said to me the other day, "mom I'm so happy that I'm Avery's new favorite person!" Love that girl. And she is so sweet to me when I am sick. Except for today, but I forgive you Alex.

Today I heard myself saying (in frustration) to Avery, "you need to stop wanting things you cannot have." good advice for all of us really.

I just spent a weekend in The Cities with a few of my besties. It was THE BEST. Even if we were sick. And even if we did all share one king size bed.

Paul and Avery bonded while I was gone.

Probably the next time I update this blog we will be in Jacksonville. Maybe I'll even take some pictures.

I will miss my friends while we are gone. But I will be at the beach, the pool, the park, Disneyworld, outsideinthesun...so I think I will be ok. For 2 months anyways.

When we come back it will finally be summertime in Rochester.

Here's to 5 months of summer! (and a more exciting blog)

The kind of girl we are raising

2011-03-02T23:39:00.002-05:00

Alex is constantly making up her own jokes. They are not funny and they never make any sense. Until today:

Alex: Why did the princess fart on the tree?

Carter: I don't know, why?

Alex: To make her boyfriend laugh!!

I laughed out loud.

Things I feel like blogging about

2011-02-28T22:35:00.003-05:00

My Brother's Wedding.

I smile every time I look at this picture, remembering all that was going on and being said in the moment. My dads comment was, "Why is there so much damn drama in this family??!"

Let's just leave it at that : )

Alex's Surgery.

It was just tubes in her ears. Fast. Uncomplicated.

But also.

Seeing my little girl in surgical scrubs.

Watching her get piggy-backed off to the OR without me.

Hearing her screams as we headed back to see her in recovery.

Holding her limp and flailing little body as she screamed and cried for a good hour afterwards.

Maybe shooting my husband a look or two - the kind that means "Ithoughtyousaidthiswouldbenobigdeal?!?"

(although I now realize he had no idea what those looks meant - he says I speak in code)

But also.

Her mask smelled like strawberry candy.

She ate lots of popsicles.

They let her keep "Pudding" the puppy.

And Avery liked her scrub cap.

Father Son Ski Trip.

Noah's first time.

2 1/2 days on the mountains in Utah - saying that Noah loved is an understatement.

Noah called me after his first lesson and said, "Mom, it's so easy. I can totally ski. I go like 20 mph mom."

All day everyday he said to Paul, "This is so awesome dad. This is awesome."

He also told Paul the blues were "easy" and he wanted to do some black diamonds - which is when Paul had to draw the line.

Noah's new favorite sport. Paul couldn't be more proud.

A great experience for the both of them, it makes me so happy : )

Alex's 5th Birthday. And Paul's 32nd.

They share. They like it that way.

Took Alex and a few of her little girlfriends to the movies on Saturday - they were hilarious.

Opened presents on Sunday.

Paul and Noah put together Alex's doll-house (just what Paul wanted to do on his birthday I'm sure) the only thing she asked for this year.

And Avery decided she needed her picture taken too.

A good day.

And in case you are not on Facebook...

Paul's Status Update

Which he wrote after having taken an Ambien.

I was reading (and laughing) over his shoulder as he typed and tried to stop him (unsuccessfully) from posting it.

He has since deleted the post. But it was loooong.

He thanked people for the birthday wishes including those, "loved and hated and now just loved"

And said things like, "keep spreading the love Facebook"

???

Um. Yeah. Paul about died when he woke up and saw that on FB this morning.

Can't stop laughing about it : )

And that about wraps things up.

Sunday

2011-02-21T00:36:00.003-05:00

This is my bedraggled "I just spent an hour shoveling the driveway" look.

And a few hours later I got to spend another hour clearing away the wall of snow the plows left at the bottom of the driveway.

Oh yes and it's supposed to snow all night.

(Who needs the gym?)

I always feel so proud of myself after shoveling.

So I treated myself to way too many episodes (7 to be exact) of Downton Abbey in a 24-hour period.

You can stream it on Netflix.

DO.

So good. Can't wait for Season 2.

I consider myself lucky

2011-02-15T22:11:00.005-05:00

Because it's been in the 30's for a couple of days...with 40 degree weather coming all week.

Noah says it "feels like July." I wouldn't go that far. But. I'm loving it.

Because these are my Valentines.

And I've got a lot of'em.

As I kissed Alex goodnight and said, "I love you my little valentine" she put on a pouty face and said, "Mom. I heard you tell dad that HE was your valentine." She wants to be everyone's one and only.

Because V-day was a good day.

I spent the morning playing with the girls: fingeroos, glitter nail polish, and sugar cookie making.

Alex wore pink and got my new signature hair style

(hey, this is good for me)

I got to go to the gym - but Alex was concerned about my lack of pink and red.

Alex, this headband is for you.

And the kids got a few little presents, packages from BOTH grandmas, and way too much candy from their parties at school.

So...even if the night ended with 3 wild kids and 2 exhausted parents (ready and willing to give our kids away to anyone who would take them)...I consider myself lucky.

Overheard

2011-02-12T11:21:00.003-05:00

We have a little preschool carpool. So each time I pick up the kids I get to listen to their funny conversations the whole way home.

A few days ago Alex and Carter were swapping puke stories. Carter had recently been sick and told Alex proudly, "The other night I stayed up puking ALL NIGHT LONG!"

Alex responded with, "I've puked before too! One time I was standing in my kitchen and I opened my mouth and the puke just fell right out on the floor!"

Then there was lots of giggling (me included).

The next day the topic of conversation was Alex's new underwear.

Alex - Carter guess what?!? I got new undies!

Carter - You did!?! What are they?

Alex - I told you - new undies!

Carter - Yeah, but what's on them?

Alex - Oh ya know, some pink, some orange, some purple...

(And yes, Carter is a boy)

Yesterday when they hopped into the van Alex announced, "Carter when my dad gets home from work today my dad and my mom are going on a Valentine's Date!"

We did. And it was great.

Finally

2011-02-08T00:11:00.003-05:00

- saw True Grit (s0 good)

- cleaned my house from top to bottom (so long)

- upped my mileage and running speed at the gym (so hard)

and read a few good books in the last few weeks. maybe that's why I haven't had time to blog?

The day to day

2011-01-27T00:52:00.003-05:00

Lately Noah wants to abbreviate all his words. He asks for a "cook" when he wants a cookie. But the best is when my kids tell me they want "crack" for breakfast.

Cracklin Oat Bran.

Makes me laugh every time.

Today is Pajama Day for Noah's class at school. He could not have been more excited about not having to get dressed

Yes, he's got pj's on under all those snow clothes...

And here's Alex (also in her pj's because we're never ready when we take Noah to school in the morning) with "Smitten"

Alex is working on a sticker chart to earn prizes for sleeping in her bed every night - as opposed to crawling into our bed in the middle of every night.

I had just had it - and Paul had had it with me and Alex fighting in the middle of the night.

The motivation is working really well - and she picked out "Smitten" all by herself (because I would have never picked that out).

Noah decided he needed to be able to earn some prizes too, so he's reading an extra chapter a day. Last night he reminded me he doesn't have any prizes in the box yet. I told him I would take him to the store to pick out his prizes himself, but they needed to be $5 or less. His response was, "This is a cheap system mom."

Maybe, but it's working.

Noah likes to say funny things like that. Big words, adult words. Yesterday I made a comment about Alex and he said, "Indeed, she does."

Two nights ago, apparently Noah woke up in the middle of the night and thought it was morning. So he went downstairs and turned on the tv and was totally excited to see that there was one of those ghost/haunted house shows on. You know, like the ones on Discovery channel and stuff? Eventually he got a little freaked out and also realized it was not morning and came running to my room. I tucked him back into bed, unaware of what had been going on. But he was certainly excited about the show the next morning and told me all about it over breakfast. I was disturbed.

Today we are going to register Alex for kindergarten.

When it was Noah I was excited, but also nervous and a little sad. With Alex I'm kinda wishing all-day Kindergarten were an option. Not sure if that's because it's Alex or because she's my second?

Not that I don't enjoy having her around - and this girl is good at entertaining herself (the opposite of Noah and Avery).

This is what she's currently doing:

playing with, talking to and pretending with her "babies."

A few minutes earlier they were having a tea party.

But this girl is serious drama and attitude and someone (other than me) needs to whip her into shape. Maybe her Kindergarten teacher.

I often wish I had someone with a video camera following Alex around all day. Almost everything she says/does is funny - because of the way she says/does it.

I love this picture of Avery. And her mullet.

Avery just had her 15-month checkup. And I'm a little worried because she's not really talking. I mean she babbles nonsense to us all day long, but she's not really using any words. My other 2 were pretty good talkers. The doctor was slightly concerned as well. And it turns out Avery has fluid in her ears. So, soon she'll be seeing Audiology and ENT to see if that's the problem with her speech.

We know them all well by now. I've had plenty of trips to see them with Alex over the last 5 months. And tomorrow Alex is getting tubes in her ears.

She was kinda freaked out about having surgery - until she got presents in the mail from her grandma. Now she can't wait for tomorrow.

Oh yeah, she's also excited to be able to hear again. So are we!

Wish us luck. I'm a little nervous. And I feel bad for her.

Paul does not - because he's a doctor - and I'm sure I've explained that phenomenon to you all before (i.e. lack of sympathy because they've always seen something worse).

He keeps reminding me it's "no big deal" and that "she'll be fine" and "don't let her play you."

Whatever. He's a total softy when it comes to Alex.

Lastly, my phone broke. My indestructible phone that has survived being dunked in the toilet, dropped in the tub, smashed on the floor innumerable times, dropped, thrown against the wall, and sucked on by probably all of my kids as babies. Yes, I've had it for years. It's one of those "old fashioned" phones that just makes phone calls.

And what finally killed it was nothing other than the Minnesota cold. I left it in my car for a couple of hours in the -30 degree weather and it hasn't worked since.

No I did not get a smart phone. We're holding out. I got the newer version of my old fashioned phone. We'll catch up with the rest of you when we're done with training in a couple of years.

And that -30 weather was terrible. Terrible I tell you. The last few days have been in the teens and even the twenties here and there. At first it felt nice!

Now I'm just cold again.

The End.

Think Arrested Development

2011-01-24T23:03:00.003-05:00

"And that's why you never..."

do your ab routine at home

(photos by Noah Gunn)

Another post about my kids without any pictures

2011-01-15T16:38:00.004-05:00

I guess I'm getting old and boring. I am turning 30 this year.

My kids went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese last night (probably my least favorite place on earth). Now they keep talking about Chuck E. and all I can think about is Chucky. You know the one.

Our pet fish Oshi is still alive and kicking. It's something of a miracle. The other day I asked Noah if he'd fed Oshi. He got that sheepish look on his face that means no, and proceeded to feed the fish. I asked Noah, "Noah are you feeding Oshi every day?" His matter-of-fact response was, "Mom, I don't keep track of it. Like how I don't keep track of the last time I had a bath."

Good thing boys have moms to keep track of the important stuff in life. I also have to tell him everyday to change his underwear (or he wont do it). And I thought he was changing his socks everyday...until I realized that smell last night was coming from Noah's feet. (I hope Noah doesn't read this, he will be so mad at me.)

Alex seems to have no short-term memory. If you ask her what she did today she will always respond with, "Um...I don't know." Or she'll look at me and whisper, "Mom. What did I do today?" Funny. And worrisome. In fact, that's Alex in a nutshell: funny and worrisome.

Avery has a mullet. But I don't want to cut it because I just want her hair to grow out - or grow into it. Or something. She's still pretty needy but it's getting harder to ignore her - now that she follows me around, arms reaching out to me saying, "Mama!" in the sweetest, saddest little way.

Also, 4-7pm is the worst time of day. I feel bad for Paul that he comes home from a long stressful day at the hospital to the madness that is our home/family at that time. Avery is whining because she wont take a nap most days and is way too tired. Noah doesn't want to do his homework. Alex is mad because she can't watch tv. Noah and Alex are bugging each other. Everyone wants a snack even though I'm trying to get dinner started.

And I know family dinners are important, but sometimes it's hard to see. Usually it consists of Noah and Alex arguing, Noah complaining and refusing to eat whatever we're having that night, Avery screaming and crying intermittently while going back and forth between my lap and Paul's, and Paul and I trying hard not to yell at everyone. Oh and there is usually at least one spilt cup of milk.

Remember this week on Modern Family when Phil said about their kids, "Sometimes I hate them"? That's probably what I'm thinking at dinner time these days.

Good thing they almost always do something to redeem themselves before bedtime.

I love my family. I'm glad I have one. But, lets face it, on any given day they put me through the entire gamut of emotions.

This is real life with a family of 5. At least it's our real life.

I'm just keeping it real.

Is it really only 12:30pm??

2011-01-10T13:20:00.002-05:00

This morning I got up at 6am in an attempt to beat my kids out of bed and get as much of the house cleaning done as possible, without them.

All I succeeded in doing was waking the whole house up early.

And cleaning my bathroom floor twice when Alex peed all over it right after it got cleaned.

Meanwhile Avery followed me around, throwing things (toy cars, her sippy cup) into the mop bucket.

Just don't tell my husband that I fed her marshmallows to keep her in the high chair long enough for me to mop the kitchen floor.

Points for the kids: a bajillion

Points for mom: none - any points I earned for cleaning are now null and void from all the screaming and bribing I did to get the cleaning done

The kids are winning, oh yes they are winning.

And beating me down.

Kid Stuff

2011-01-06T22:10:00.003-05:00

When I was out with the girls last night I got this text from Paul around 10pm:

"Noah just puked in our bed"

3 reasons that is probably the worst text message I've ever received?

- it was about one of my kids. and it was a girls night out - when you are supposed to forget you have kids

- it involved puke.

- it happened in my bed.

Here's another story about Noah:

Paul took him to get his haircut the other night. Only he didn't ask him how he wanted it cut. And apparently it's much shorter than Noah likes it, so he wasn't too happy. Paul felt bad about not asking - but I'm still wondering when my BOY got old enough to have an opinion about his hair??!

Here's an Alex story (or two):

when we were reading from Noah's National Geographic tonight she asked me a question about "Antfartica." A mix of Africa and Antarctica?

Also, the other night she called me a "skinny mama." Then she thought about that for a minute and said, "Actually, you're a medium mama." So that was awesome.

And Avery:

It's official - her first word is "Da-da." It's ok. I'm pretty secure about our relationship. When Paul tried to tease me that he was her favorite I couldn't help but laugh.

Since then she has said "Mama" a few times. She also says "uh-oh" but she can only do the "uh" part. And she tries to say "all done" which sounds like nothing like those 2 words at all, just a bunch of gibberish. But I know what she means - she does it with body language.

Then there's Facebook, my other baby (at the moment).

I love it/hate it.

I love that I'm actually communicating with people that I've lost touch with or have had very little contact with over the years. People I like, and care about, and miss.

I hate that I when I sit down at the computer I don't know when I'll get back up again.

Most of all...I hate that I'm afraid to say anything. Does anyone else feel that way? I'm pretty open on my blog (which is not private) but Facebook feels very different. It is different.

My blog will always be my real love : )

January 3, 2011

2011-01-04T00:49:00.002-05:00

Places I can now be found:

The gym. My beloved Mayo gym! Avery is finally old enough to go to the kid care! Actually they decided to start having "baby hour" which is great and all...it's just too bad they didn't start doing that a year ago. We were 6 weeks away from the age requirement when they went and changed it on us. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be there 6 weeks earlier than I had planned...just a little bitter about all the gym time I missed out on for the past year. I might not be able to walk tomorrow.

Facebook. Because it was about time.

It was kind of a big day for me today : )

Ringing in the New Year

2010-12-31T21:27:00.009-05:00

(sans Paul)

with 7 under 7

looks like this

and this

and this.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

It's Christmas

2010-12-25T22:32:00.011-05:00

When Paul and I left CA earlier this week a small part of me was sad. The rest of my family would be together for Christmas (minus T&J, still honeymooning).

But after another year, our third actually, of Christmas at home in MN...I gotta say, I love it.

Paul was off Christmas Eve. It snowed (even more). We spent the day delivering goodies to friends, sledding, shoveling, watching a movie and baking world peace (cookies, that is).

And in an attempt to find a meal that the kids would be happy about we ordered pizza (per Noah's request) and drank Martinelli's. Pretty sure it's a new tradition.

Before bed, also per tradition we sang Christmas carols and talked about the real story of Christmas.

And although Noah insisted he couldn't possibly sleep, the kids were asleep by 9. I set a new record by getting us to bed by 11pm on Christmas Eve. That would be because I'd stayed up till 1:30 am wrapping 2 nights earlier. It also helped to have Paul around - oh wait, no it didn't but it was fun anyways : )

This morning, Christmas morning, we were all up at 7am (after sending Noah back to his room to read books at 6:30am).

Our morning in pictures:

Noah was happy and excited and played a great Santa. He spent much of the day mastering the levels of Super Mario Bros. on the Wii.

Alex, never one to hold back, gives the best reaction you've ever seen to anything and everything. She has been in Disney Princess heaven ever since.

Avery had no idea what was going on but loved wrapping paper, her little baby which she carried around on her shoulder (patting it's bum), her many musical toys which she danced to all morning and just being in the middle of everything. She's never played on her own for so long in her entire 14 months of life.

Paul and I loved watching it all unfold : ) And of course all the hugs and kisses.

We also had friends over for Christmas "lunch" since Paul had to head in to work tonight at 5pm.

Good food, good friends.

Great Day.

Minus 5pm, at which point Paul and I were both exhausted but he had to leave for an all-night shift and I got to stay home alone with 3 kids on the brink of meltdowns and a house that looked like a Christmas bomb went off.

But that was ok too. We managed to have a good night.

As I was getting the kids ready for bed tonight they insisted on tattoos (from their stockings). Which led to a an intersting conversation about Mom's tattoo. Which I of course turned into a teaching moment. (I had to when Noah asked me if he looked like, "one of those guys with tattoos all over who rides a motorcycle with no helmet?")

Something along the lines of following the prophet and me getting my tattoo laser burned off...

I knew I'd got the lesson across when Alex looked at me with big eyes and said, "I think I just like fake tattoos mom."

Or maybe I hit it a little too hard, because a few minutes later Alex nervously asked, "Mom, do Dr.'s still have laser guns?"

I explained they only use them when people want them too. She said, "Yeah, like when you have a real tattoo."

Not really wanting to end the night on that note we read a bunch of the kids new books. One of the stories mentioned the "olden days."

At which point Noah interrupted and said, "olden days? they mean the 1980's."

WHAT!??!!!!?

Actually, the night ended with the kids, once again, fighting sleep.

Because they didn't "want christmas to pass."

Ooohh I love these kids.

Merry Christmas.

T&J

2010-12-22T20:11:00.006-05:00

Tanner and Josie

12/18/10

and we were there!

and now we're here.

My brother was...himself. (Which means there are funny stories)

Josie was beautiful.

It was rainy.

It was perfect.

And now I have a new sister!

Tanner and Josie, love you both.

Enough to stand on and almost slide down a muddy hill in high heels and wedding clothes in the drizzle to pose for your pictures - sisters squealing, husbands cracking jokes, and dad wondering aloud about why we have to have so much #*&@ drama in this family.

Ah, great memories.

Did I mention how great it was to be together with all of my siblings and their spouses?

And their kids, wow I love'em.

Thanks for getting married guys.

But don't forget Leland...destination wedding.

pressures on.

Because he thought it would be fun?

2010-12-12T23:03:00.004-05:00

and to prove he could do it.

I did not marry a wimp.

Great food, hon.

And a pretty great weekend.

Noah is thrilled that school is cancelled tomorrow.

Alex cried because it means no "show and tell"

(although Noah tried to convince her to do it just for us).

Avery is cute and clueless and tries to follow the kids out the door every time they go play in the snow.

And I'm just kind of fascinated that I actually live here.

(and like it!)

Update:

2010-12-12T11:08:00.005-05:00

He's done!

And half-dead.

Words Paul used to describe the ordeal: brutal, intense

And I left the house for the first time in 24 hours to get this picture.

It's killer out there.

Did I mention how glad we are that Paul has the weekend off??

Because I live in Minnesota

2010-12-12T10:27:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a blizzard.

An actual legitimate blizzard.

Worst storm since 1991, in fact.

Wind, ice, and I don't even know how many inches (which turned into feet) of snow.

Our day went something like this:

Paul shoveled the driveway in the morning while the kids played in the snow.

Then decided to brave the streets and weather and take the kids sledding, since they were already bundled up and it was only going to get worse.

You see, Paul has the entire weekend off (unheard of!) and Noah has been dying to head over to the big sled hill in town

Noah loved it, Alex made a few runs too, but didn't love the spraying snow.

So they made a little shelter for her underneath a pine tree, where the branches protected her from the cold and wind and she was happy as could be.

On the way home the roads were worse, but still do-able.

That afternoon Noah and Alex were invited to play at a friends house - on the other side and very edge of town. We had to wait for the call that the snowplows had cleared their streets before Paul could take them over.

So he shoveled the driveway again.

And on the way home...he almost didn't make it.

I was stressed out that our kids were going to be stuck at our friends house until the next day.

But a few hours later Paul made the trek again (which required more shoveling) and they all made it home in one piece.

Barely! Paul said it was treacherous. He had blankets and everyone's snow gear in the car in case they got stuck.

(Noah probably could have handled it, but Alex?? Paul was praying he would not get stuck with Alex.)

They eventually pulled the snowplows off the roads yesterday - they couldn't keep up.

Our ward Christmas Party was canceled.

Church was canceled.

We stayed in, stayed warm, made cookies, and ate grilled cheese and homemade chicken noodle soup.

This morning the sky is clear, the roads are plowed, and we have "arctic temperatures" for the next few days.

Right now it's 0 degrees, -25 with wind chill.

And Paul is out doing this:

Shoveling the driveway yet again, and trying to clear away the wall of snow taller than my kids that the snowplows left at the bottom.

The kids didn't last very long out there, even Noah who loves the cold.

Paul? At this point I've lost track of how long he's been out there.

Tomorrow the High is -2.

Welcome to the North Pole.

The Boy

2010-12-08T11:00:00.003-05:00

Noah was born the day after Thanksgiving.

Which was great on the day of his birth because all of my family was in town for Thanksgiving. Paul's family was already there of course, which meant that everyone got to be there to meet him and hold him the night he was born.

The first grandkid on both sides.

I love remembering that day, when our first child was born : )

Of course, since then, having a Thanksgiving birthday isn't necessarily ideal, but we make it work.

This year, instead of a birthday party Noah took his family and a friend to The Mall of America to ride the rides all day. He's tall enough to do every single one, and he does'em all. The scream-your-guts-out-think-you're-going-to-die ones and the ones Paul and I can't handle anymore because we are old and they make us sick. He loves it.

And he had a blast, we all did, on black friday at Mall of America.

His actual birthday fell on Sunday this year.

We celebrated with presents, the Happy Birthday song, candles and cake and ice cream, phone calls from the grandparents, and watching the movie we made of the day of his birth

(which, fyi, does NOT include the actual birth).

Noah looooooved it all.

Honestly he was so super sweet and happy all day.

Like when I got out the camera and started snapping he looked up and smiled happily at me??!!

Kinda weird that our oldest is

7 YEARS OLD

Love you Noah boy.

Yeah, It's Real

2010-12-04T00:35:00.002-05:00

Me: Why are we always buying our tree in the middle of a snowstorm?

Paul: Because we live in Minnesota.

Alex: (screaming and crying) It's too fat!!!

Alex: (screaming and crying) It's too skinny!!!

Home Depot Employee: Do you have any questions?

Paul: Do you know how to handle a 5-year old girl?

Avery: (not loving her puffy coat, trying to squirm out of my arms and run around in the snow, oblivious to the decorating of the tree [hallelujah], but cheering smiling and clapping along with the rest of us when we lit it up!)

Me: (not taking any chances) Higher! Put the ornaments up higher!

Noah: This is the best part of Christmas!

It smells like Christmas too : )

Now if I could just remember to water it this year...

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-02T01:18:00.006-05:00

things that should not be a tradition:

- the kids throwing up the day before Thanksgiving

- going to Great Harvest Bread Co with a barf bucket

- discovering the night before Thanksgiving that the bottom of your springform pan is missing, tearing apart the kitchen, and then driving to the grocery store in an ice storm to replace it

- me being in charge of the turkey

- Paul going on about 1 hour of sleep on Thanksgiving

- (almost) getting a concussion on black friday (but that is a very misleading statement)

- Paul trying to find a parking spot at Mall of America on black friday

- going (back) to American Eagle, was it 4 times Tiff or 5?

- the babies screaming the whole 1 hour 30 minute ride home from the Mall of America

- Tiff convinced that something was terribly wrong (I say it was the 6 cookies they ate for dinner while we shopped)

- husbands somewhat displeased about the money spent at Mall of America

- Brimhalls only staying 3 days

- not taking hardly any pictures

the keepers:

- the Brimhalls

- staying up late cooking with my sis

- Paul being home for Thanksgiving

- Madden loving Uncle Paul

- kids enjoying "the feast"

- black friday shopping with my sis...but not too early

- sending the kids home early with the guys

- riding Avatar and screaming like a kid

- yams and triple layer mousse for every meal for days

- enjoying the moment so much you can't be bothered with taking pictures

some stuff that makes me laugh:

- Tiff leaving me blog comments while I stand 10 feet away

- a certain commercial (you know the one Brimhalls)

- A&E guy that thought I wanted to leave my baby with him

- creepy straight-faced guy sitting across from us on Avatar

and all we've got to show for it:

Thanks for coming Brimhalls! Can't wait for Thanksgiving 2011 -

I think they're getting better every year : )

Traditions

2010-11-23T23:17:00.003-05:00

We're not a family that has a ton of'em...but we've got a few.

We've been doing Thanksgiving on our own (away from family) since Paul started med school. Was that really six years ago??

That makes this our 7th Thanksgiving on our own, we've hosted 5 out of the 7 times.

We've come up with a few good traditions along the way...as well as some funny experiences and great memories.

First of all:

Martinelli's Sparking Cider. As in every one gets their own bottle.

And yes, we drink from the bottle.

Then:

Best Pecan Yams. They'll change your life.

(from the Favorites book)

And of course:

Triple Layer Chocolate Mousse. Nothing else needs to be said.

Then there's rolls...and this is where the funny experiences come in.

(Although not at all funny at the time.)

To make a long story short...homemade rolls are the bane of my existence.

CAN.NOT. DO THEM.

I've tried different kinds, different recipes, tricks of the trade, I've even had more than one tutorial.

CAN.NOT. DO THEM.

But a few years back, when we were not hosting, for some reason I agreed to bring rolls.

That was mistake #1. But it got a lot worse from there. And that frigid snowy Thanksgiving morning was turning into something of a disaster for me as one thing went wrong after another.

And then, the car is loaded and ready to head over to our friends house - we're just waiting for the timer to go off so we can take the rolls and stuffing out of the oven.

Which is when we realize...I never even turned on the oven.

And THAT is when I sat down in the middle of my kitchen floor and cried.

I've come a long way since then.

Which is why tomorrow morning you'll find me at Great Harvest Bread Co.

Buying rolls.

(Don't judge, they're delicious)

We do have Thanksgiving traditions that are not based on the menu.

Most years we go around the table at the beginning of the meal and say one thing we are thankful for - not Paul's favorite, but I like it : )

And this year we've started something similar with our kids.

Every night for the month of November we get together as a family and say one thing we are thankful for.

It's always fun to see what the kids will say...and to come up with our own new thing each day.

Here's mine for today:

I got to have lunch with Noah at school

bring treats to his class

read to them

and watch them do a super cute birthday song thing too.

Loved it.

Love that he wanted me to come (Paul says next year he probably wont)

love that he insisted we take the extra cupcakes to the principal and other office ladies

love his cute friends

and loved hearing from some of the adults at school what a wonderful boy he is : )

And now for one more funny Thanksgiving memory:

a few years back, after a somewhat late Thanksgiving dinner (to accommodate crazy work schedules) we all gathered in the living room around our little tv...

to watch the Thanksgiving episode of Grey's Anatomy.

It was very important to me.

And now it makes me laugh out loud!

Because I've given up Grey's and I'm totally beyond that now : )

My Thoughts On...

2010-11-20T00:26:00.011-05:00

(Because I don't want my most recent post to be about Avery getting her head split-open anymore)

online Christmas shopping - best.thing.ever

skinny jeans - pretty dang comfy

ear warmer head scarf thingy - I might not do my hair a single day this winter

having 3 kids - well. tonight I said to my husband, "Children was a mistake." He said, "I know."

But that is mean. And not true. So here are my real thoughts on parenting:

It's hard. And there's lots of crap. It's exhaustingfrustratingdrainingneverendingmaddening. It's not the laugh and play and read books and snuggle and have fun with your kids all the time that you imagine it's going to be. Although we do some of all of that. It's just that there's a lot of hard stuff in between. More than you realize there is going to be. But here's the thing - the good still outweighs the bad. Not in amount. Most days there is a lot more "hard" and "bad" than good. It's more that the good is so great that it makes up for the bad, makes it worth it.

So today I am grateful that when I sat down to play with Avery she kissed my face every 5 seconds. And that Noah insisted on reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to me before bed. And that Alex danced with me in the living room after dinner.

Yeah, today was a(nother) hard day. But that is the stuff I'm going to remember.

"Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

- Gordon B Hinckley

Warning: the following image may be disturbing to some viewers

2010-11-14T22:20:00.003-05:00

Or is it just me?

Avery had her first stitches today after slamming into the coffee table.

It was traumatic - for me and for her.

And after a visit to the ER we barely had enough time to make it to church for the Primary Program.

Like I threw on a skirt, took a minute (much to the annoyance of my husband) to put on minimal make-up, and went to church with Avery's blood on my shirt and the I-rolled-out-of-bed-and haven't-touched-my-hair yet look.

Awesome morning.

Poor Baby.

Winter Love

2010-11-12T21:53:00.004-05:00

Today I loved the "first snow"

and watching the big kids from the window with this little kid.

Because I like snow a lot more through the window.

I loved watching them build a snowman together.

Never mind that moments later they were fighting about said snowman, which turned to screaming, which led to Alex trying to demolish the snowman, which caused Noah to throw snow at her, which sent Alex into the house in tears.

It was cute while it lasted.

I'm also loving Bath & Body Works hand soap in winter scents.

This one is my fav for sure.

I'm loving (a little too much) these buckeyes

(aka chocolate dipped peanut butter balls).

Not so good for my (first-ever) pair of skinny jeans I just got.

Not posting a picture of that, still trying to adjust to the idea.

But they fit in my boots - warm and dry warm and dry warm and dry.

I'm loving this ear-warmer head scarf thingy.

And I love that it fits me no matter how many buckeyes I eat.

Would You Rather

2010-11-08T11:36:00.003-05:00

This is what the alarm on Paul's phone looked like the other day.

Yes, that's 3:30am

Although it was Daylight Savings, so it was more like 4:30 am. A typical day in the life of an anesthesia resident.

And then there was my morning:

I woke at 7am - to a sick, crying baby covered in vomit and diarrhea shortly followed by a second screaming child with a face covered in blood.

The story:

As I was dealing with Avery I heard what sounded like my big kids sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags.

I yelled, "that's a bad idea!"

just in time to hear a crash and then blood curdling screams from Alex who came running to me with her face covered in blood.

Face first down the wood stairs and straight into the tile landing results in a bad bloody nose.

So...

work 90+ hours a week in a high stress environment including 30 hour shifts and getting up to go to work in the middle of the night

or blood vomit diarrhea laundry 2 screaming kids and another one to get ready for school

Some days I'm not sure what I would rather.

(Alright. I'd still rather do my job.)

Things We Like

2010-11-06T19:15:00.002-04:00

(and when I say "we" I mostly mean "they")

Riding the plasma car in the newly-cleaned-out garage, baby sister humming in your lap

being swaddled like a baby, especially at bedtime but sometimes in the middle of the day (?)

snuggles from baby Av, she likes to use her forehead

and sometimes her cheeks

doing mom's hair with every hair clip in the house (and then trying to convince her to go out like that but settling for a picture)

and making the biggest possible mess at every meal!

Oh and we can't forget "poison baby."

basically Avery toddles around the house after the kids making funny noises at them and if they get touched 3 times they're dead.

Want to come and play??

Word of the Day

2010-11-04T18:44:00.002-04:00

justasec

definition: a measurement of time

As in, when I tell Alex to get off the computer she says, "But mom can't I have one more justasec?"

and now for a completely unrelated story:

Paul had the day off on Tuesday and was actually home. Also, Noah was home sick that day. So when Paul was in the kitchen that morning, making eggs for everyone for breakfast, I looked around and saw my whole family and declared, "This feels like a holiday!"

Paul laughed. "Not a weekend?"

And then we both laughed. Because we both know he's not around on the weekends either.

Thanks for working so hard for the family hon - the upside of all your long hours is that when you're home it feels like a special occasion : )

It's not my favorite.

2010-10-31T22:19:00.009-04:00

but Happy Halloween.

This year we went with our good friends to Tweite's Pumpkin Patch.

It was more like a village - tons to do and the kids loved it.

Not that you can tell. And that is the only picture I got (because we were on the wagon ride and I could actually keep track of all of my kids for a few minutes and pull out the camera).

Oh wait! Me and Avery were there too, and we look happy : )

For reals though, when we walked in Noah's eyes got huge. Slowly, arms outstretched, he said, "This. Is the coolest place I've ever seen."

It's also the place we got these beauties.

And after they were carved Paul informed Noah that 2 pumpkins a year is his limit - once Avery is old enough, Noah is on his own.

Thanks for doing the dirty work, hon : )

On Friday I had two "Character Parades" to attend in one afternoon.

Alex was totally into it.

She did get a little more animated - and she loved wearing her ballerina costume all day at school. And she loved that her ballet slippers made her feel like she was "just wearing socks."

Noah's was next. Every year it's tricky - because he wants to be something scary for Halloween, but you can't be anything scary for the school "Character Parade."

So it's totally awesome that the kid next to him looks like...something very scary.

Anyways. Noah borrowed a pirate costume.

Swashbuckling.

Except he wouldn't wear the wig of pirate hair to school - maybe because his sister told him he looked like a girl?

Saturday night was our ward party and Trunk-or-Treat.

I got Noah to cooperate for pictures when I reminded him that we couldn't even see his face.

And I made his ghost costume.

I know, awesome, right??

(although eventually Paul had to tear the eye-holes open to make one big hole for his face. so he could see)

Alex was so cute but totally freezing to death - despite the shade shirt under the leo and the fuzzy pink leg warmers.

(she wore a coat)

Avery is not pictured. But she wore a snowsuit. Because it was freezing.

And because I didn't want to buy my baby a costume.

Before the trunk-or-treating started the kids enjoyed some of the festivities.

My favorite was watching them eat donuts off a string.

Alex was cracking up.

And they both came home with glaze all over.

They trunk-or-treated for about 20 minutes, making a full round of all the cars, and they were satisfied. And freezing. So we came home and ate lots of candy. And washed off glaze.

Tonight being Sunday we did not trick-or-treat. When I explained to Noah, earlier this month, that we would not be trick-or-treating on Sunday, but Trunk-or-treating on Saturday I thought he might be disappointed. Nope. His only response was, "OK, but I get candy?"

So tonight they passed out candy. I gave them a few instructions and let them be in charge. Oh man, were they into it. It was hilarious!

They watched for trick-or-treaters for a good half hour before anyone was even out. Then they slowly transitioned from watching at the window, to waiting at the door, to standing on the front porch with the bowl of candy, calling out to trick-or-treaters.

And there was some real teamwork going on. Noah would look down the street and holler to Alex how many were coming their way. Alex would quickly count out the right number of mini candy bars and distribute them evenly between the two of them.

They remembered to say "Happy Halloween!" and "Your welcome."

Noah would run inside intermittently to let me know how many "customers" they'd just had : )

The kids had a good Halloween.

They are cute.

And I am glad it's over.

Now Bring on Thanksgiving!

There's a holiday I can get excited about.

Food, Family, Counting your Blessings. Nothing weird or creepy about that.

just tilt your head to the side

2010-10-29T17:27:00.004-04:00

I'm still not used to it...coming around the corner to see Av toddling down the hall. Makes me laugh every time : )

It's a Tough Business

2010-10-27T12:46:00.001-04:00

Learning to walk, that is.

While Paul was away

2010-10-25T22:39:00.006-04:00

I did not play.

I worked on this.

And tried not to think about our original plan - the one where I was in San Diego with Paul (where he attended and presented at an Anesthesia conference) eating good food, staying in a nice hotel, seeing old friends, enjoying a 5-day break from the kids, and attending parties on aircraft carriers in the pacific ocean. Our original plan got derailed by a few things like money, childcare, a baby not ready to be left behind

...I love this phase, I love this phase, I love this phase...

Really I do though : )

And besides who needs a vacation in San Diego when you could stay home in Minnesota and accomplish something like this??

It turned out so freakin' good I don't even know what to say.

Except that maybe I cried (before during and after)

worked like crazy for 5 full days and into the wee hours of the morning

while simultaneously caring for my 3 young children

and our home

single-handedly.

And so I thought you might need 5 different pictures.

That show the same thing.

Oooo and you need to see it like this to really get the full effect:

Could. Not. Be. Happier.

And to Cat:

thanks for talking me into it

working with me every step of the way

and keeping me sane throughout.

Good times, hon. Good times.

I love you : )

So anyways.

It's official. My kitchen is amazing.

And it's done : )

1, 2, 3...?

2010-10-21T15:29:00.006-04:00

3 kids.

Weird. I could swear I have 11.

That's what it feels like when I've got all three of them 24 hours a day like I do for the next 4 days.

(No school Thursday and Friday.)

And... it's only Thursday afternoon. I'm exhausted and half-crazy.

You probably would be too, if my kids were yours.

I mean do you have a 4-year old daughter as sassy as Alex?

The other day when I told her to do something she didn't want to do she snapped at me with, "Okay, fatness!"

I mean really, what am I even supposed to do with that??

Last night it was Paul she was sassing and he finally thought to sit her down with the i-pod and some good old Taylor Swift.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize there was a 16 year old in the house.

Sigh.

At least she still has a sweet side.

A crazy funny side too : )

Then there's Noah.

Who is suddenly a big kid.

When I asked him for a kiss the other day he responded with, "Oh mom, if my friends saw this..."

WHAT??!?

And the next morning it was, "Girls. They're sooo sensitive."

But then there was last night.

He was describing to me a girl in his class with "golden hair."

So I said, "What color hair do you like girls to have?"

And without hesitation he said, "Brown, like yours."

Yep, still my little boy : )

And Avery.

Well, we've really out-done ourselves this time.

She's our most stubborn kid yet.

And she's got something of a bad reputation. Who knew a 1-year old could even have a reputation??

But she loves her mama like crazy and I'm wrapped around her little finger.

I wouldn't trade any of'em for the world : )

(But do you really need to ask me why we're done?)

The Big Event

2010-10-20T10:50:00.013-04:00

Paul got back from a 5-day trip to San Diego (more on that later) just in time to celebrate Avery's birthday with us.

(Luckily, she remembered him.)

I don't know who was more excited about the "party"

Avery

or Noah and Alex.

Probably Noah and Alex, but Avery picked up on everyone's excitement and had a great time too.

She loved her new toys and the kids loved showing her how to use them.

Avery loooves music and will dance to pretty much anything.

Battery operated toys included.

I even caught some of her moves on (low-quality) camera.

Although Noah laughing in the background might be the best part.

Avery got a super cute cake all to herself, with delicious cupcakes for everyone else - all from our favorite local bakery.

Ya know, per Avery's request : )

Dad thought she might need some help with a spoon.

But she got in there with her hands anyway.

And then took over with the spoon.

She savored every last bite : )

I think we had to pry the spoon and cake from her hands.

At least she got to take a bath afterwards, which happens to be her most favorite activity.

All in all, a great first birthday.

Fun for the whole family.

And in honor of our newly-turned one-year old here are some pictures from a recent photo shoot, done by my talented friend, Jolene Reed.

And don't forget to click here to see the rest of them on Jolene's blog - she posted a few of my favs.

Love'em.

Love our baby Av.