Finally!

In kindergarten they had this poster where kids got to write their name each time they lost a tooth. Kylie was convinced her name would make the list before the end of the school year and she was pretty disappointed when she never joined the elite club. She wiggled her teeth everyday and thought for sure it would happen during the summer before 1st grade. Once that never happened I think she gave up hope of ever losing any teeth. Then last week she discovered that she had a tooth that was barely hanging on a thread. I'm not quite sure why it took so long for her to figure out that it was loose, but she was pretty excited once she did. Kylie is all about the drama, so you can imagine all the tears every time she ate anything (personally, I couldn't wait for it to come out). About a week later when I picked her up from school she had a big toothless grin and proudly told me that she pulled it out by herself at lunch. This is the same girl who told me that she could no longer eat her sandwich at lunch because it hurt her tooth and now she goes and pops that baby out all by herself, go figure. Her cousins were coming the next day so she wrote the tooth fairy a note and asked her to come back the next night so that she could show her tooth to her cousins. The next night the tooth fairy was almost asleep and realized she hadn't done her duty, so she recruited her male helper to do the job. The next morning Kylie was so excited to find a dollar under her pillow, but she couldn't figure out why the tooth fairy didn't take the tooth. I guess the tooth fairy needs to conduct a how-to seminar for her helper.

Twilight

(Edward wasn't available, so we settled for the next best thing)

I was half tempted to camp out for the midnight showing, considering I'm pretty used to being up half the night these days, but thought better of it. A friend of a friend had rented out a theater for a later showing today (thanks Pam!) so pretty much our whole ward was there fantasizing about Edward (I'm pretty sure the bishop wasn't fantasizing, but isn't he a good husband to come and watch too?) I didn't want to have high expectations, so I ended up really liking it. Sure, Edward wasn't what I had imagined, but he grew on me. I thought they had the perfect Bella, I liked the movie version of her better than the book. She kinda bugged by the last book. Alice was just what I had pictured, but Rosalie not so much. But seriously, who can be as beautiful as she, or the rest of the vampires, are described in the book? Those are some mighty big shoes to fill. The house wasn't what I had imagined, but whose being picky? You can't go wrong with a good old fashioned vampire love story and a theater full of girls (and the bishop)(and this random vampire guy).

Payback

Not only does she change poopy diapers, make bottles and feed the baby....she's now mastered the art of exfoliating foot scrubs. Oh yeah, all those nights of pacing the floor when she was a colicy baby are finally paying off.

One Month

Sniff, sniff. I can't believe my itty-bitty boy is already a month old. Highlights from this past month include: eating all the time, pooping all the time and sleeping some of the time. He's not too bad at night (he's usually asleep between 8-9:00 and goes for 4-5 hr. stretches. It's made a difference moving him out of the cradle in our room and into the crib because I don't wake up with every little noise he makes), it's just the naps that are killing me. He only falls asleep in the bouncy chair with the vibrator on, the car, or if I'm carrying him in the sling. If I try laying him down then he wakes up after 5 minutes. He also loves taking cat naps instead of good solid naps. I've never read Babywise and you would think by my 3rd kid I would know what I was doing, but I think I'm going to have to bust it out this time. He is pretty happy, though and there's nothing that a bottle or nursing can't fix. So far he hasn't had the fussy period in the evenings that my other kids had, so that makes me a happy momma. He is still as cute as ever, although he's broken out with the dreaded baby acne. It always makes me sad to see their perfect, soft newborn skin break out. I overheard Kylie tell her friend "don't worry, it's not a disease on his face so you won't get it". Sad. She also gave me my reality check the other day. Just as I started running again and trying to get back to my pre-prego weight, she informs me that my arms and thighs are "puffy". But apparently it's okay because she "likes the way they jiggle". Gotta love that brutal honesty. I'm not sure how much he weighs now, but at 3 weeks he weighed 8 lb 8 oz and his cute little chicken legs are starting to plump up. When I took him for his weight check, he totally peed all over the nurse, the scale and inside my diaper bag. I forget what those little guys are capable of. We're all still totally in love with this guy and the novelty of a new baby hasn't come close to wearing off. My favorite things about Maddox are when he snuggles up on my shoulder with his mouth close to my ear and I can hear all his little grunts, lip smacking, breathing and squeaks; or when he smiles and sighs in his sleep; or when he purses his little lips and his mouth makes this tiny little circle; or the little shiver he makes when I tickle his neck or back; or the way he looks at me out of the corner of his eye when he's nursing; or the way he arches his tiny back and curls in his little arms and legs when he stretches; or when I try to kiss those irresistable lips and he opens his mouth wide and moves his little head all over trying to find food; or when he burps or passes gas--it's music to my ears because I know that it makes him feel better; or when he stares at me with those intense eyes, I just wonder what's going on in his little head....who am I kidding, I love absolutely everything about this little guy!

Romance Is In The Air

Before we got married, my idea of romance was when Jason would surprise me with roses or take me to a fancy restraunt. Now that we have been married for 9 1/2 years, my preferences have changed. Yeah, all the fluffy stuff is still nice, but now days it's not just a box of chocolates that gets me going....

-there's nothing more romantic than my man waking up with the kids while I sleep in
-there isn't anything sexier than the site of my man changing a dirty diaper
-there's never been a serenade quite as beautiful as the sound of my man pacing the floor while soothing a crying baby
-I've never received a solicitation quite as enticing as the offer to go grocery shopping for me after work so that I won't have to take all 3 kids
-my man gets me all twitterpated like no other each time he offers to take the kids with him to run errands or go for a bike ride or even take them to the school carnival so that I can enjoy a quiet house
-my man has never looked hotter than when he's standing behind a sink of dirty dishes
-nothing says "I love you" more than the offer to wake up with the baby in the middle of the night
-I've never received a compliment that melts my heart quite like when my man tells me that my stomach is looking flatter each day
-nothing puts stars in my eyes quite like the site of my man bringing home take-out so that I don't have to cook dinner when I've had a rough day

So you can keep your flowers that will die after a week, I'll take my man that will drive carpool for me five mornings a week!

One Proud Dad

Kylie was telling Jayden that he could ride as fast as Speed Racer if he had his training wheels off, so after some good old fashioned peer pressure he was convinced. After Jason took the wheels off I went to get the camera and by the time I came back he was already riding solo. Jason said that he started holding his bike but Jayden immediately told him to let go and he was off. We've had several crashes into curbs and parked cars but each time he just hops right back up. It was definately a proud dad moment.

Playing Hookey

My two week grace period with Maddox is over. I make the same mistake with every kid, I think that they are the perfect baby....and then they hit two weeks and it's all down hill. He doesn't sleep all day anymore, instead he takes 15 min. cat naps because he wakes up the second I lay him down. And when he's awake he definately cries alot more. But atleast he's cute, so he's still got that going for him. Anyways, with Jason working down in Tucson for the week I was a little nervous to handle all three by myself so instead we pulled Kylie out of school and surprised the kids with an overnight trip. It was seriously one of the funnest trips we've had down there. I feel like we've been cooped up for the past 3 weeks since Maddox has been born. Jayden has probably watched more TV in the past 3 weeks than he has in the past 3 years, so we definately took advantage of our chance to get out of the house. I was nervous since Maddox has been so naughty, but he was a dream and slept the whole time (that's why he's not in a single picture, poor kid).

When we got there that evening we walked around the U of A campus and strolled through the shops and restraunts, then settled on the ever classy Johnny Rockets for dinner. Afterwards we watched the election results and it was funny to see the kids getting so into it. There was a huge democratic convention going on at the hotel we were staying at and the kids got pretty ticked at all the cheering going on since they were voting for the pretty lady and Jesus :). I wasn't sure how Maddox would do that night, but he had a 6 1/2 hr. stretch, which is the longest he's ever gone. My favorite thing about staying in a hotel is the room darkening shades. The kids and I didn't wake up until almost 10am, I seriously got more sleep that night than I have since before getting pregnant. We took our time getting ready that morning and layed around watching cartoons until we met Jason for lunch. It's funny because every time we go outside of Gilbert I always feel alot more self consicous because everyone is staring at me and thinking I'm crazy for having so many kids. It was bad when I had two and it's even worse now that I have 3. I feel really old and really young at the same time. Really old because I have so many kids and too young to have as many kids as I do. So with that said, we're trying our best to not draw attention to ourselves as we're eating lunch with all the college kids at the restraunt. We've only managed a few stares and comments, and then it happens. Kylie is leaning on the table and the entire thing tips, all of our drinks that were just filled up go everywhere--on the carseat with the sleeping baby, in the diaper bag, on our food, in our laps, on the floor....kids are crying, we are drenched, everyone is staring and all Jason and I could do was look at eachother and laugh. After our lunch experience I took the kids to our favorite zoo. We go everytime we're down there and it never gets old. Here are the highlights:

We got there just in time to watch them feed pumpkins to the elephants. It was really cool to see them smash them up then use their trunks to eat.

With so many cool animals to see, why is it that the roaming peacocks are always the favorite?

Next to the peacocks, these monkeys are a favorite too. They are always doing the coolest tricks. It's nice to see some zoo animals that actually do more than just sit in their cages.

The little monkey moved away before I could figure out how to turn off my dang flash, but you can kind of see it.

At this little waterpark you can push the buttons to make water spray at different parts, here Kylie surprised Jayden and soaked him. It's November and instead of stopping her, I take a picture. I'm a good mom.

After the zoo we went to the park to play. The kids really wanted to do the spider thing on the swing, but did they listen to mom when I said they were too big and would get stuck? No, and it turns out that they were too big and got stuck. Once again I get mom of the year award for taking pictures of my screaming child before rescuing him. After the park we went to a museum on campus then out for ice cream sundaes before Jason got off work and brought take out for dinner.

Before heading home we stopped by for some go-kart racing. Jayden smoked Kylie, I don't think he took his foot off the gas the entire time. Kylie on the other hand came to almost a complete stop each time she came to a turn in the road. We decided she will be allowed to get her license, whereas Jayden may never see the drivers seat of a car before he's 25. The kids all slept the entire 1 1/2 hour drive home, it was the perfect ending to a perfect getaway.

Politically Correct??

The conversation on the way home from school on election day:

Kylie: we voted in the election today, I voted for the girl, she's pretty.
Jayden: we got a new president at our school too.
Kylie: who did you vote for?
Jayden: Jesus. But Nicholas voted for Rock-a-bye Baby. No wait, Rock-a-bye Bama.

After trying to correct him, the closest we got was "Rock-a-bum-bum". Yeah, still trying to figure out the whole Jesus thing...

Six

Yes she can be a little (okay alot) emotional, yes I have a hard time letting her go to school with 5 crazy ponytails in her hair that she has so proudly done herself, yes I also have a hard time keeping my mouth shut when she's so excited to wear the bright fusia eye shadow from her Barbie make-up kit to church, because she says that it makes her look like a princess, and yes she can give me attitude like no other, but there is so much I love about this age. I love her innocence and I wish I could keep it that way forever. In her little six year old world....

-"Stupid" is pretty much the worst swear word ever
-you are only allowed to kiss if you're married (there is an occasional exception if you're engaged)
-the world as she knows it is over if someone sees your underwear
-she has no hesitations to ask the principal, her teacher and her whole class if they're Mormon (I think people are beginning to wonder if we're breeding religious fanatics over here)
-she writes me love notes on a daily basis
-"Spongebob" is the worst show she's ever seen
-it's still cool to have your mom eat lunch with you at school
-wishes on cakes and stars come true, as long as you don't tell anyone your wish
-the safest place in the world is snuggled up between mom and dad when you've had a bad dream
-she makes me little presents, like the most recent ring holder she made for me by taping two sea shells together--love it!
-she thinks babies come from when you say really good prayers
-even the worst owies can still be made better with a hug and a kiss
-she still believes in Santa, although the tooth fairy and Easter Bunny are a little questionable
-she actually thinks it's fun to help me cook and clean
-a big night out consists of happy meals at McDonalds
-she loves having girl talks and telling me everything about her day
-she's in bed by 8 pm
-she wants to marry her dad when she's older, but if he's not available then she'll settle for her brother
-a dirty joke to her means that it has the word "pee" or "potty" somewhere in the punch line
-if you have a $1 bill then you are considered rich
-words like "abduction", "murder", "economic crisis", etc. aren't a part of her vocabulary and her biggest fear in life is going upstairs by herself when it's dark

It makes me sad to think how soon all of these are going to change, but for now I'm enjoying it a day at a time. So the next time she asks me to lay by her in bed to have girl talk, instead of thinking about the dinner dishes that need to be done or the TV show I've been dying to watch, I'll think about how soon the day will come when she will no longer want to talk to me and I'll take advantage of moments like those for as long as they'll last.

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun surprise on Thursday when Jason's dad called and wanted to come for a visit the next day. The kids were soooo excited and they were bouncing off the walls the entire time he was here. I've learned that I can rate how much they like somebody by how hyper they get when they're here. Apparently they REALLY like Grandpa. All the sugar didn't seem to help much either, but atleast they had a fun weekend. I thought I was doing good on Halloween morning to make some orange pumpkin shaped pancakes for breakfast, then I clicked on my friend Jodee's blog and saw all the creative Halloween meals she had made the entire week. There's always next year... Then we started Halloween night with me waiting in line for an hour at Papa Johns (one of the employees even commented that I didn't look too happy. Ya think??), so we got a little bit of a late start with the trick or treating. Jason and Grandpa took the kids out while I stayed home to pass out candy. Maddox was pretty ticked that I had to interrupt his feeding every 5 seconds to answer the door. The kids definately got loaded up with candy and I decided that I'll never have an October baby again, not only because of the heat but because it's impossible to lose the baby weight when I'm eating candy three meals a day. After trick or treating Jason took the kids to our neighbor's house where they projected a movie on their garage door, the kids loved it. While they were there Jason was telling them how I had found a baby scorpion in our bed earlier that day (yes, I said IN our bed. Freak out.) so half the neighborhood came over for a good old fashioned scorpion hunt. They found like 7, which was definately a creepy ending to our Halloween. The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with Grandpa. We took lots of walks to the park, had a barbeque, played lots of games of hide and go seek, went swimming (well, Jason and the kids went swimming, me and Grandpa were the smart ones to just watch). They also all went to this new Asian mall and out for Dim Sum while I stayed back with Maddox. He even took the kids shopping for a toy, which Jayden still has yet to put down the Bumble Bee transformer that he bought for him. Jayden also made it his personal mission to teach Grandpa every word to the Transformer song. It was so fun having him here, he is such a cute grandpa. The kids loved every minute and it was cute to see him holding Maddox every chance he got. So yes, we definately had a happy Halloween!