The Parkhurst Family

Turning 15

2012-02-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

14 weeks is the beginning of the second trimester. It is supposed to be the most restful, easy period. When I hit 12 weeks I felt optimistic. I knew things were gonna get better.
13 came and went.
14 came and I was sicker than ever. I couldn't make breakfast fast enough. If I tried for anything other than cereal I ended up throwing up before it was done being prepared. Dignity went out the door; I threw up at work. One day I coughed and pancakes came with it. Why? Who knows.
This baby hates me.
Here's to a much better week 15!

Re-cutting the cord

2012-01-23T13:57:00.001-08:00

Levi was sick all last week. It was miserable. He barely ate, he slept 20 hours a day, though never at night, and he never left my lap. We took nice naps together. The house feel apart. We watched tv together. The house fell apart a little bit more...
Levi is better now. Well, he isn't sick. He doesn't want to walk. He has reverted to crawling. He doesn't want to leave my side. It's very sweet to hold them all day when they are sick. In fact, I kind of love sick babies. But holding them 24/7 when they are healthy is a whole different matter. my house needs me. The laundry cries in crumpled agitation. The dishes reach the sky.
Today I put Levi in the hallway and shut the door. He was not a fan. Oh well, sometimes you gotta cut the cord. Again.

Things that ail us

2012-01-09T19:16:00.001-08:00

A lack of kidneys,
A plethora;
Some of the things
That could ail ya.
A baby inside
That makes you sick,
A heart that hurts
Every third tick.
Maybe you're broke
With no daily bread,
Or your boss is a jerk,
Or you can't get ahead.
We are a sorry
Sickly bunch.
But misery loves company;
So I'm pleased as punch!

I'm ashamed

2011-12-16T16:04:00.001-08:00

I have failed big time at keeping up the blog. I started a job about 3 months ago and it has kept me busy. Any free time that I have is spent... Well if I had any free time I could finish that sentence. 3 kids + a man-child husband + a job + Adam's school + Levi's therapy + laundry and other house crap = absolutely no free time. I have so many things I need to do.
How I would love to put up a Christmas tree or scrapbook the 400 pictures I printed recently or even take a nap. Nope. Never gonna happen. As it is this entry is being written only because I am on a two day vacation to Utah. Kyle's friend got married this morning and we have a little bit of time before the reception. I've had 3 free hours today. Who knew it was possible?
Then it's go go go. Back to life. Back to the grind. Back to insanity. I don't recall a time in my life where I've felt quite so burned out. It would probably help if I liked my job. This wasnt supposed to be a depressing post. I'm not depressed. I'm just BUSY!

Game Night

2011-10-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

We recently moved into a small apartment. When we did, game night was cancelled indefinitely. We just thought there was no way it would be fun in a small crowded environment. We sold our couches, so there wouldn't even be places for people to sit.
Two weeks ago some of my family members came to visit me at work and begged for game night to be back on. With a heavy heart I told them there was no way. We are just too uncomfortable here. But I've missed my friends and my family. We decided to have a trial night. We crammed around the table and played games. We ended by 11 PM. Anyone who has been to game night before knows this means utter failure. If people leave before the cock crows something is amiss.
We tried it again this week.
Shame on us, but game night was over at 11 again.
We suck.
We started to wonder if there would ever be redemption for our long held tradition.
On Saturday, Sydney and Felicia came up to watch Adam's soccer game. They stayed all day and into the night. You would think by night time they would be tired of us. Yet, the party raged on. Brock, Whitney, Bryan, and Clayton and Melanie all joined us. We sat around the family room without couches. We sat on tables, floors, and kitchen chairs. No one minded. No one complained. The house didn't empty till after 2 AM.
We had so much fun with our family. I think that's the best part of it too. Every person that comes is family, in some way. Felicia is definitely my sister, which makes Bryan the slightly strange in-law. Mel is married in and since Brock is dating Sydney he has a temporary pass. We got to feeling good. We even took turns saying things we loved about each other. Isn't that sweet? Doesn't it bring a tear to your eye? It almost did to mine. We all know I'm a cry baby though. Anyway, the point is....
Game night is back!!!!

Times I've cried in the last two days.

2011-10-06T13:41:00.001-07:00

1. When I got a review at work. My bosses focused a wee bit on the negative and crushed all feelings of pride I had in the job I was doing. Also, I am aware that I set feminism back a couple of decades by crying in the workplace. Sue me.
Emotion - Let down

2. While I was cleaning at work. The mere memory of the review made me well up. No drops actually escaped so I'm not sure this counts.
Emotion - Frustration

3. Work again. Trying to sell personal training to two of the craziest women I've ever met. They interrupted each other and told me about the other one's problem. Another "near-tear." This one actually made me well up because I cannot laugh in a customer's face and I was trying so hard to hold in the outburst that it broke through to my eyes.
Emotion - Near hysteria

4. When I got home and told Kyle about my review.
Emotion - Anger

5. Listening to the kids sing If I listen With my Heart in the car this morning.
Emotion - Gratitude

Life's a rollercoaster.

Either that or I'm bipolar...

California weather

2011-10-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

Last night I got home at 9 PM. I was boiling and I asked Kyle to turn the air down. Today it is 1 PM and I'm freaking freezing! What is up with the world?!
Global warming perhaps?
Second coming maybe?
Most likely it was the energy drink I had at work making me sweat buckets.
Still, whatever happened to the gradual progression of seasons? Who does this weather think it is, changing on me so quickly!? I haven't had a chance to buy winter clothes for anyone or to get my boots out of storage.
....
Oooh! Boots!
Turtlenecks!
And I can gain 5 or so pounds and wear a thick sweater; noone has to know. Plus, pumpkin pie!!! Maybe I didn't think this whole rant through very well. Who am I to tell nature its job?

Emancipation

2011-09-24T18:55:00.001-07:00

I kicked Caleb out of the house today. I'm not ready for this crap. He isn't even 4 years old. What a brat! Ugh!

It started like a lot of the battles in my house start. One of the boys, Caleb in this anecdote, was bugging Levi till he cried. I put Caleb in his room.
Caleb said he wouldn't do it again. But he'd already done the crime and he knows very well what the penalty is. So, he still had to serve his time. He cried. He screamed. He yelled, "I hate you!!!!"
Yeah.
Hold everything!
a. How does he even know to say that? Kyle and I don't say that kind of thing. I vaguely remember watching a show with them recently where the kid did that. No joke, I even wondered about the influence they were getting.
b. Nice try. I'm the only person on this planet that loves that kid enough to deal with him constantly. I know people might say that's silly, but try dealing with someone else's child for a while and see how unconditional you feel.
I took him outside to the front porch and I told him he can go find a family he likes, because I will not take care of someone that hates me; I shut the door in his face. He cried quite loudly and honestly, I felt like a wonderful trailer park family. Oh well, extreme times, ya know. I told him he could come back and live with us once he apologized. I left him out there another 10 seconds or so and then he said he was sorry. I let him in but sent him to his room. For good measure, I cried and told him he hurt my feelings. Not in a sweet "let's hug it out" way but in a "you can stay in room cause you're mean" way. I know it was totally childish, but sometimes it seems like they understand that better.
I'm pretty tough as a mom and this didn't get under my skin. The crying is, I'm sure, misleading. Trust me, it was just a bit of theatrics.
TBS seems to promote the idea that you aren't a good parent till your kid says they hate you. I must be an awesome parent; most folks have to wait till their kids are teenagers.

Murphy's Law

2011-09-08T22:13:00.001-07:00

You know, I have no idea who Murphy is, but I think he must have been kind of a jerk. How else do you explain that the first day Adam wears his white uniform shirt is also the day they use blue paint?
Stupid $12 shirt is now a rag.
Screw you too, Murphy!
Ya jerk...

My kindergardener.

2011-09-06T17:55:00.001-07:00

I was surprised at how well I did today. My first child went off to school. I shed no tear and felt no choking up. In fact, I was a little mad at him for getting weepy.
He got his first Father's blessing last night and that made me way more emotional. Maybe I just got it all out so I wouldn't ruin my makeup today. Or maybe I was just so thrilled to get a break from the little hellion that I was pleased to see him start his education.... Who knows?
Side note, I showed up to school at 12 to get him. He was in the principal's office. How come no one told me school ended at 11:40?!?
To be fair, there were 2 kids left in there. Out of all 20 or so students, I am only the 3rd to worst parent. Yay, me! And hahahaha to the two suckers I beat out!
Here's a picture of my sweetness.

Testimony

2011-09-04T19:58:00.001-07:00

I don't like to bear my testimony. I never have. Even when I was 13 and at girls' camp I couldn't make myself do it. I've always had a secret fear that it was because I didn't have a testimony. I've always wondered if the right trial would come one day that blew me off course like I was nothing.
As I look at my trials though I realize I'm not doing so bad. Each time the refiner's fire grabs me I count my blessings, I pray, I fast. I do all the things ive been taught and I hold tight to my faith.
I've read a comparison of a testimony to light. For some people the light flicks on and all the darkness disappears. No more doubt or fear. For others a testimony starts small like a candle, building slowly but surely till they've got a raging fire. I figure is why I've wondered previously. I'm a candle kind of a girl. No angels have administered and the spirit has never been physically audible to me. But I've never doubted Heavenly Father's love for me, my testimony of Joseph Smith has always been in tact, and, most importantly, my love of the Savior and gratitude for the Atonement have always been strong. As my lines build and my precepts stack up, I find that the darkness is dissipating and I've got a light every bit as good as those that started with 90 watts.
I have a strong testimony of Heavenly Father's love for me. I know he looks after me and I know He hurts when I hurt. He gives me trials for the experience they provide. If I knew nothing else, this would get me pretty far.
A little bit of my testimony is built upon my marriage. I believe that Heavenly Father led me to Kyle early in my life because He knew that I needed him. He knew without him I'd make a mess of things. Kyle is my perfect match. He has every quality that I lack and though I don't believe in soul mates, I have a hard time thinking we are just two random wanderers who got lucky.
I'm grateful for the temple and for eternal families. The sealing ordinance is a great proof to me of Heavenly Father's love. I couldn't imagine heaven without my sweet family. All of them, Kyle, the boys, my parents, my siblings. I even look forward to seeing grandma Mary Jane again someday.
This was kind of random, I know, but I felt I needed to share my testimony and this is a much better option for me than public speaking.

Does this count?

Holy super bug from Hell!!!

2011-08-25T20:52:00.001-07:00

Just when I think it's over,
Just when it should be through,
I find another family member
Curled around the loo.
First twas Adam and Levi
Then Kyle did succumb.
Poor Adam got a second round,
Mostly out his bum!
I finally got the ickies,
In bed a day or two.
And now it's back for Caleb.
I hate this fricken flu!!!!

Just thought this angry post needed a little rhyme and meter. Seriously though, my house has had the stomach flu going on about a month. Just when we're done with it we get it again!!!!

Make us one

2011-08-20T21:50:00.001-07:00

Well they did it. The vows have been said and the cake has been eaten. It was a beautiful reception. Honestly much better than I was expecting. I am glad! In my head it was shaping up to be a disaster.
The sealing itself was also very nice. I'm jealous that grandpa Eddie got to seal them. It's so great to have someone who really knows you be the one to perform the ceremony. Not that my guy was bad. We still recall a few of the things that were said in our sealing and so many of them have come to fruition. All of the sealers are blessed with the spirit. It is just extra special to have the person counseling you be family.
The thing that stuck out to me in the sealing was the counsel to become one. It was reiterated over and over: become one, become selfless, your spouse is more important than you are. I have to chuckle at this a little bit. Of course the whole point of marriage is becoming one, but grandpa's counsel seemed tailor made to Clayton and melanie's particular relationship. Good luck my dearies! The first year is usually an... adjustment. Who am I kidding?! It's usually a pretty rough one!
And as for my last horn tooting for setting them up...
TOOT! TOOT! TOOT!

Fricken flu. (round 4)

2011-08-08T00:41:00.001-07:00

The flu is out of control right now. It kicked off 3 weeks ago with Levi. Tiny man barfed several times over the course of two days.
Adam got it next. Spurred into action by a six flags ride, the flu caught us unprepared. 4 stops just on the way to the car.
Then a week and a half goes by. Life is quiet. There are no midnight sheet changes. No Pedialite administering needed. Caleb was the lucky one.
I know it isn't only Sacramento. Parker got it 3 hours away. Stupid bug hitch-hiked to Susanville.
Next Jaden. Puke and poop. Poor baby still has it. Most get it for 24 hours. Jaden has had it for 6 people now.
Caleb finally succumbs. A new element greets us. Diarrhea. Yes, the brown monster rears it's runny head.
The circle comes to a close with Adam. Since beginning this post I've been called away twice to pat his back and whisper comfort. He's a tough man. He told me he had it and I could go clean up. Thanks. Guess he's a puke master by now.
I'm exhausted and my babies are all dehydrated. They can't afford the weight they are losing.
Full circle is where things usually end right?

Like a bear to hot wings

2011-07-22T08:20:00.001-07:00

Yeah. It's a saying.

I made it up this morning at 2 AM. See, that's when a hungry bear found my mom's leftovers from Chili's. I hate to admit my scaredy-cat-ed-ness, but I was terrified. The bear was ripping apart the box at our picnic table. 10 feet away from our tent. I was shaking and freaking out. Later he tripped on one of the ropes holding our tent up. I was sure he was going to become enraged and tear the thing apart.

Every breath of the boys' became a snarl in my ear. Everytime one of them rolled over I was sure it was a bear footstep. I've never been so scared in my life. I don't even wanna stay camping the next two nights.

Of course, even if a bear does rip our tent apart tonight I probably won't notice. I'm working on a hour or two of sleep...

Wish granted

2011-07-15T14:00:00.001-07:00

We went to six flags today. Actually, as I write this, mom, Levi and I are chillin in Toon Town waiting for the boys/men to return from the swings.
I should preface my story with telling you Levi is sick. He has kept nothing down in almost 48 hours. The doctor told me to give him pedialite exclusively until he can keep it down.
Mom doesn't like rules.
She decided to give Levi a bit of cherry. As I watched a tiny tiny little taste of cherry go in his mouth I said, "I hope that if that little bit of food makes him barf, he gets it all over your nice white shirt."
Wish granted.

Poop is funny!

2011-06-23T20:37:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of things Caleb said within a 20 minute period that made me laugh.

First off, Adam was singing the Farmers insurance jingle. Altered of course. "we are Farmers! Da da da da poop poop poop!"

This gave Caleb the giggles. He said "sing it again!" but Adam had moved on to other obnoxiousness. Caleb, the sweet little simpleton, had to improvise: "we are poop farmers!" hah!

I wonder what poop farmers do...

Second story. Sorry for the TMI on this one, but I still think it's worth sharing.

Occasionally the boys take too long to eat. An hour will go by and I'm still having to remind them why they are at the table. Today we went to Six Flags. At around 8 PM we were finally home and eating dinner. Because the boys had fallen asleep on the drive home I was planning on letting them stay up late and watch a movie. But not if dinner took an hour.

Kyle was in charge of turning on the movie, but said he would do it after he, um, took care of business, if you catch my drift. Knowing it was all taken care of, I went upstairs. Pretty soon I hear Caleb's pitter patter and then a knock on the downstairs bathroom door.

"Hey Daddy, don't be done pooping okay? Stay on the toilet until we are done eating!"

I know people may not find this quite as hilarious as I did, but maybe it made you chuckle.

Levi

2011-06-22T14:25:00.001-07:00

My sweet Levi is a funny little boy. I know I called him a dud in a preceeding post. That's not really the case. I mean, yes he's a little slow; yes, he needs physical therapy to catch up; yes, he probably would be content to let others wait on him hand and foot the rest of his life.

Let's be honest, who of us wouldn't like that last one? And while we're on the subject, who among us hasn't needed the occassional cattle prod to force movement?

That's just me?

Ah. That would make a lot of sense....

Like mother, like son then, eh?

Levi is also sweet and smiley and cuddly and he has the best Spongebob teeth since Eva Marie. He's a happy boy who behaves very well. He sits in his stroller or his car seat without complaining. He is as content to watch movies as he is to sit down to a heaping pile of Cheerios.

I can't believe my tiny man is almost 1. (That may be cause he looks and acts like he's around 8 months... on a good day...) I just love him and I'm so happy the little guy is in our family.

I'm even over the fact that he wasn't a girl.

Mostly.

Sometimes.

Okay, so I put bows in his hair and call him Luvenia. Is that so bad?!

I kid, I kid.

This post is all over the place, huh? If you take one thing away from it, it should be that I love Levi. If you take away two... well then you understand what's happening here better than I do.

Good morning, now have a bad day.

2011-06-03T12:54:00.000-07:00

Have you ever aggravated your spouse so much before 9 AM that you know their gonna be pissy all day? Isn't it a shame to waste a day when people wake up on the right ride of the bed? Why oh why, did I drag Kyle, kicking and screaming, to the wrong side?

It started yesterday actually. I went out to the car to get juice boxes for the boys.

This morning I went to finish cleaning my stuff out of the car... Oops. Left the door open. Lghts are not coming on. Holy shiz for brains, I have to tell Kyle I killed the car. He was not happy.

I made the boys and me eggs for breakfast, there weren't enough for Kyle, so I had to make a second batch. I lost control of the carton and two eggs took a tumble. All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't scrub clean the mess again. So into the wash the kitchen rugs went. I ended up giving Kyle my eggs. (I honestly wasn't trying to get on his bad side!)

Kyle got into the shower. "why is there no water pressure?!?!?) oh yeah, washer is running. He also had to eat a second breakfast cause he ate my breakfast and the amount of a dieting woman does not satisfy a 28 year old man.

I wasn't trying to piss the man off. In fact, I was trying pretty hard to make him have a good morning. Guess that was a big fat failure!

Favorites

2011-05-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

I have a favorite child. Admit it, you do too.

I don't love the others less. I just like them less. Is that horrible? I won't say who it is, but I'll give you a hint. It isn't the whiny one or the dud. Kyle's favorite is the dud, which just makes me feel bad for the whiny one. He's such a sweet boy, but must every sound out of his mouth be a whine?

Recently my favorite has been a delight to be with. He is polite and obedient and as funny as they come.

Honestly when I'm with the other two and they are behaving I like them just as much. The dud cuddles me and makes me feel like a million bucks. When we are separated I miss him the most. The whiner also has his plusses. That smile and his intense love for me. He would play with my hair and hug and kiss me all day if I let him. I think Heavenly Father made them love me extra so that they could stay in my good graces.

Still...

Put 'em in a lineup and I'd pick the same one every time.

Hef called, He wants his style back

2011-05-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

My family was at the mall yesterday with Whitt, Amber and Ashley. We were just browsing, walking around, having a good time. We ended up in Fredricks of Hollywood. We are all just walking around seprately looking at different things. Pretty soon we hear Adam in a very dramatic voice say, "Oh Please marry me, my darlings!" He was in the window display talking to two rather scantily clad mannequins. We nearly died laughing. As we continued watching he stoked their arms and faces and gave them kisses. He was talking to them in a voice too low to hear. I think he was hashing out wedding details. It was just about the funniest thing I've ever seen him do. And the most reassuring. No sexual confusion for Adam, he knows exactly what he likes!

Priorities of a 4 year old

2011-05-09T10:28:00.001-07:00

Today Caleb did a bratty thing. The turned the lock on my bedroom door and then walked out. "I locked the door!" He told me proudly. My door is the kind with just a hole in the middle. I have no key or instructions as to how it is opened. Levi was on the floor of my room. I sent Caleb to his room immediately while I tried to get my baby out.

While I was sticking things in the hole to figure out how to open it, Adam started freaking out. "We'll never get Levi out again!" It was the funniest freak out. He was turning circles and screaming about Levi cause he didn't know what he should be doing. It was kind of sweet. Unnecessary, but kind of sweet. I finally got him calm. He bucked up a little and put on a brave face. Then he says, "but we'll never get to play on your iPod or my Leapster again," and he breaks back down into tears.

What a funny booger. I'm convinced it was his video games that he was concerned about the whole time, not his brother.

Ps. We got the door open and Levi was just dandy. He had backed himself into my bathroom and he wasn't very happy about the cold floor, but he was fine.

Rude

2011-04-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get snappy with my kids through no fault of their own. Don't judge me. You do it too. You're going along, having a bad day, and the tiny thing the little kid does gets a much bigger reaction than it warrants.

This morning all Caleb did was ask for a drink. He even said "please." But, it was about the 5th time he'd asked and I was trying to make breakfast.

My, "No, Caleb, I already told you to give me a minute," came out with a tone.

He oh-so-innocently asked, "Mommy, why are you rude to everyone?"

So I sent him to his room.

Family Pictures

2011-04-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

We just took these a week or so ago. I hope you like them.

Whoops-a-daisy!

2011-04-16T20:18:00.001-07:00

I am acutely aware that caffeine has the potential for addiction. My mom reached a point where she was drinking about 10 diet pepsis a day. 10 pepsis a day kept the headache away! New mantra perhaps? Well, it isn't a very good one. She got horrible headaches and finally quit the juice cold turkey. Way to go Mom!
This last week Kyle and I have been traveling. Los Angeles and st. George, ut took us somewhere close to 12 days away from home. Fun trip. Exhausting. Can't wait to get home. (I'm writing for the car, about 1 hour out.) Can't wait to have a big glass of ice cold water! You heard me. One of the reasons I can't wait to get home is for my blessed water.
I am what is known as a water snob, someone who grew up on deliciously filtered water and can drink nothing else. Utah's water leaves much to be desired. As you sip what should be tasteless your tongue instead senses every mineral the water ever came in contact with. If you are very good you may actually swallow. If you are less good, but fear dehydration, you might just reach for the Diet Coke. Stupid tolerance, and dependence and all that. I drank Diet coke and little else for almost two weeks. Oh wait, there were two Rockstars thrown in there too. No wonder I have this dang headache.

Crap.

2011-04-15T22:04:00.000-07:00

I finally reached my goal weight. Well, within one pound. That's close enough to count right? I hit it the day we were in Los Angeles. The day we happened to go swimming. The day I rocked my bathing suit. That was one week ago. It may as well have been a lifetime ago. Vacation is bad for diets. It's bad for maintaining goal weights. It's bad all around. I gained back the 4 pounds already. Fantastic.
I lost weight so I wouldn't feel like a fat heifer on my birthday. Two weeks ago. Heifer-hood has returned.
At the risk of sounding totally selfish, I think I am going to put off getting pregnant again (with my girl aka last baby) just so that I can enjoy being skinny in the summer. There is just nothing like the feeling of not feeling like a whale of a tale. It's funny cause you wouldn't think 4 pounds would make that big of a difference. Well know this, my fine followers, 4 pounds a muffin top makes!
Sorry for the rambling, I'm just a wee frustrated. Being skinny for one day just isn't enough.

Goodnight and big balls

2011-04-09T18:11:00.001-07:00

This is the fun my fam got to have today while I watched the kids. This is the wipeout Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150150064132880&set=pu.23848612879

Talents

2011-03-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

I am a woman of many talents. Scratch that. I am a woman of many interests. As to how talented I am... Well, I would say that I fall between a 2-6 on a 1-10 scale for most things.
Cooking - 2
Scrapbooking - really depends on what year. Somewhere between a 6-7
Sewing - 1.5
Blogging - depends on your criteria. I fail at putting up pictures, but I'm pretty consistent at least. 5-7?
Mothering- ask me tomorrow.
I like to think that reason I don't excel at any one thing is just because I try to do too many. Oooh I forgot
Piano playing - 1
Conducting primary singing time - 8. (that's right! Little people like me.)
I have tried crochet, candle making, and very soon I look forward to getting a 0.5 on gardening. Heaven forgive what I will do to those plants. One of my very favorite hobbies is writing. This is probably why I'm above a 2 on blogging. I love to write. If I had any idea how to get started, I would try to be an author. I don't know what I would write about. I've considered it before, but I just can't think of anything people would be interested in reading. I started with writing poetry, as I think most teenagers do. But instead of emo, black nail polish poetry, I write flouncy, bouncy silliness. I guess that is what inspired this whole post. I was recently looking through an old folder of stuff and I found one of my very favorite poems. I wanted to share it here. I know it's silly, but it's one of my favorites. (yes, even though it involves swearing!)

Magic mirror on the wall

Magic mirror, on the wall,
Am I pretty, thin, and tall?
Should I lose a few lbs?
And pump the gals a few CCs?
Would Botox for my face be right
To help the anti-aging fight?
Do I need color for my greys?
Perhaps my tush deserves a raise.
Wuld bleach and wax remove all hair?
Should I tan or stay real fair?
Liposuction could be great
To rid me of unwanted weight.
That Barbie b**** can kiss my a**
cause soon her beauty I'll surpass.
Magic mirror, let me know
How to make my beauty show.

Worst. Dream. Ever.

2011-03-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamt that I was driving and Levi was on my lap. The other two were in the back. Something distracted me and I lost control of the car. We ran off into a ditch. It was deep and full of water. As the water started trickling into the car I knew I had to act. I got Adam out of his seat and got Levi. I unrolled the window and as the water came gushing in we fought our way out. We were okay. 1 minute back on the side of the road later, I realized I'd forgotten Caleb. My sweet Caleb. I jumped back in the water and got him out in time and he was just dandy.
I woke up feeling incredibly guilty. 9 hours later an I haven't shaken the feeling that I'm a horrible person and mother. I'm suddenly terrified that I don't love my kids as much as other moms do. Would I be one of these miraculous women who lifted a car to get her baby out?
I started thinking about loving my kids. And I really really do. I adore them. I think I could lift a car. I think maybe it's the boy to girl ratio that throws me. I definitely don't pretend to understand the running/jumping/wrestling sex. I don't understand why yelling is a valid form of communication. I don't understand why Kyle and I are woken up with cannon balling children. And oh the fighting!!!!
I love those boys, but what if they annoy me more than 50% of the time? Does that make me a bad parent or simply a parent?

Poker

2011-03-21T10:12:00.001-07:00

Every Friday night we have game night here at my house. I love it. We play all sorts of games. We play mafia, signs, poker, and really anything else we feel like. This last week there weren't many people available. And by not many, I mean that there were a total of ten. While only 8 of us were there we played fear factor poker. This means the first person who goes out has to be subjected to something horrible that we decide on before we play. We considered habanero peppers, disgusting kitchen concoctions, shots of syrup... truly horrible things. We settled on spankings. If a boy lost, each of the other three boys got to spank him with a wooden spanking spoon. If a girl lost, girls got to spank her. This ensured that girls didn't get beaten quite as bad. Troy lost first, then Kyle, then Sydney. I have lots of videos. For some reason I can't get the videos to load. This is the only one that is working, but it certainly isn't the best. Here is Kyle getting spanked.

First Troy spanked him. Then Brock Tovar spanked him, then Brian Camuso spanked him. When Brian spanked him the spoon split into three pieces and flew across the room. The sound you hear is the smaller piece hittings the wall. Someone could have lost an eye. Here's what the spoon looked like.

Just a typical Friday night at our house...

Cold Dead Places

2011-03-16T12:09:00.001-07:00

I love seeing a man cry. Not a lot obviously. I don't want a wahhh baby that I have to deal with, but showing a little sensitivity never killed anyone. It makes a manly man somehow just a tiny bit sexier.
Kyle and I were recently talking to someone about emotion. We joked about how Kyle is not an extremely emotional being. He didn't cry when our kids were born and he doesn't cry when he gets hurt (swears like a sailor though). We joke about his cold, dead heart, but I feel okay knowing that any times there have been cracks in the facade it's been for me.
Then we watch Secret Millionaire. It's a show where people move somewhere and meet the local volunteers, then gift them with large amounts of money to help their causes.
Suddenly,
LO and BEHOLD!
Tears!
Real, wet, salty pools of emotion.
They fill his eyes...
they brim...
here they come!!!
waiting......
Nope.

Good job sweetie, you've, once again, successfully proven your Tin-Man likeness.

ps. Kyle has since told me that one lone tear leaked out of his left eye, the one facing away from me. Perhaps he's not a tinman? Or perhaps he doesn't want the world to know about his cold dead places and is trying to hide them behind a turned face excuse? You decide.

My Sanity

2011-03-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Both of my boys are in preschool groups. It's just done among the moms and we take turns with the kids. Caleb's preschool is more of a playgroup, as people think they might be too young for letters and lessons. Friday was my turn. The first two hours went great. The last half hour.... Well, I usually don't like when people turn movies on, it seems like "hello, my kid can do that at home!" But I am a changed woman. When 7 little boys got the runs, by which I mean they decided to run and scream, I found movie time was a life saver. Here they are.

I'm Spoiled

2011-03-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

When Kyle's parents come into town, it's sort of a tradition to go shopping at JCPenney. Kyle's mom worked there for about 25 years and gets a great discount. We buy clothes, we buy shoes, we buy makeup. (SO glad Sephora moved into JCPenney!) I've never gone into housewares before. This time, Kyle took a trip to housewares while I was perusing the clothing.
End of story is I got a $400 Kitchen Aid Artisan stand mixer for $45!!!! That's right. 45! Here are all the things that added up to my amazingness:
1. It was the last of its kind.
2. It was the display.
3. Being the display, someone had stolen one of the attachments ($14 on kitchenaid.com)
4. Alana's 15% discount.
5. The 30% coupon scratcher.
All those things added up to my pretty new red Kitchen Aid. Yay for me!

Oh, to be tiny!

2011-02-24T12:34:00.000-08:00

Laundry is not high on my list of likes. The joy I get from seeing those mountains of stained, soiled clothing is about the same amount of joy I derive from a papercut or a hang nail. I try to keep up, but in a house of 5, it's nearly impossible.
Today I only had one load to fold. On lists of pleasure one load is a -1. 0 is of course complete apathy, and 10 is ecstacy. Each load takes the number farther into the negative. I have never hit a -10...
I digress.
Today I had only one load of laundry to fold. Levi was at my feet playing in his gym. I dive in. You know how you whip laundry sometimes? It gets stuck or crinkly and you grab the top and snap it down? It makes that cool pop sound that you know would hurt a butt if they happened to meet? Anyone? Bueller?
I did that with something. 5 feet below my head someone busts out in giggles. Who knew this was funny? Levi is still at an age where the biggest laughs come from face to face time. He likes peek-a-boo and he likes when the boys play with him. (mostly)
Still, for some reason, this piqued his interest.
I tried again.
SNAP.
HAHAHHAHAH
SNAP.
HAHAHHA
It got to the point where each time I picked up a new piece of laundry he would kick his legs and flap his arms in anticipation. Then,
SNAP.
HAHAHAH
I didn't even have to look at him. But then, how do you not look at a baby with the giggles. So cute. He did it the entire time. Every piece of laundry was acknowledged with tiny joy. For probably the first and last time of my life, I was sad to see the bottom of the laundry basket.

Charity Never Faileth

2011-02-23T12:00:00.001-08:00

There are certain people in my life that stress me out. I mean more than I can stand sometimes. To the point where I just wanna get away, it's either that or yell. I'm more of a bottle it up kind of person though. I don't wanna hurt their feelings even when mine are hurt. So, I just get mad and stew and stew until I lash out.

Recently, after spending time with one such person, I read a conference article. Trust good old President Tommy (That's right, not just first name, but nickname basis) to put me in my place. I wasn't even home yet when I came across this gem. I was so ashamed and also kind of mad. He doesn't know what I go through! Then I remembered that Jesus knows everything we go through. And that sweet guy was a turn-the-other-cheek-er.

Now, I'm way too far away from being Christ-like to take undeserved punishment, but this talk kind of helped me see past my own annoyed feelings to try and see what other people are going through.

Here are a couple of quotes from the talk that hit home:

"I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions, the kind of charity that forgives, the kind of charity that is patient.

I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others.

Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings

In a hundred small ways, all of you wear the mantle of charity. Life is perfect for none of us. Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life. May we recognize that each one is doing her best to deal with the challenges which come her way, and may we strive to do our best to help out."

This is just some of the talk. I'm sure by reading the parts I picked you can see where I fall short. When people offend me, or do something that is hurtful or wrong to me, I tend to judge. I tend to get offended and I tend to get mad. I have no inclination to turn another cheek. I want to start hitting back instead.

President Monson says don't get pissed off, but try to understand. I will try.

(I'm not sure he would say "pissed off"...)

If you want to read this whole talk (and if you haven't already, you really should, it's amazing!) here is the link:

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/charity-never-faileth?lang=eng

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T13:44:00.000-08:00

Poor Kyle.

I did have plans. I was hoping to have a nice clean house for the man to come home to. Something lacy and cute on the wife, perhaps a great dinner, chocolate covered strawberries as is tradition for us.

What happens instead? I wake up and twinge my neck so bad I can barely move. The house is a disaster. Kyle is picking up Chipotle and anything that should happen after lacy clothing is probably not an option. What a winning Valentine's Day huh? I'm a disappointment to myself!

Dear lingerie,

2011-02-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

I hope you have enjoyed your year off. Don't think I've forgotten you or abandoned you to the darkest places in my closet. I see you there each day collecting dust. I hear your snide remarks and I see everytime you recoil in fear. Yes, I know you fear being stretched to the breaking point of pretty lacy things. Do not worry. I have known you weren't ready for this jelly. I know i have caused some abandonment issues. Believe when I tell you, it was for your own good. But fear not, my sweet pinks, blacks, and reds. The time soon approaches for you to be exercised and have a chance to use your skill. Luckily, you have an entire holiday dedicated to your... Talents.
Yours forever,
Christina
Ps. The sweats meant nothing to me. I was thinking of you the whole time.

Primary Talk

2011-02-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

Adam gave a talk in primary yesterday. It was his first one. I, unfortunately, forgot about it until Saturday. I had hoped he would have it completely memorized by Sunday. Still, he knew it pretty well and I figured he was ready. I didn't go to church cause I wasn't feeling well. Kyle took the boys. Well, wouldn't you know but that little snot wouldn't perform. He didn't want to sit in the chair for the talk, he didn't want to stand on the step stool, and most of all he didn't want to talk! Piss me off.
This is all he had to say:
"Heavenly Father gave us the scriptures to guide our lives. In them are things we need to know to return to Heaven to live with Him. One example is the Word of Wisdom. It teaches us things Heavenly Father wants us to stay away from, like alcohol. I'm grateful for the scriptures and for Heavenly Father and Jesus. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
Long? Nope. Difficult? Not really. Adam can't seem to say the word "guide". He kept saying to "dot our lives". Weird huh? His only hang up was that it was scary to talk in front of people. Silly booger. Next time I will prepare him better...

Halle-fricken-lujah!

2011-01-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

My house has been quaratined since Saturday night. Three sick little boys have been making life (and bed time) impossible. They've had fevers in the 102+ range, snot has flowed in delicious green rivers and my every 30 seconds has been punctuated with at least one coughing fit. I think maybe they've had strep throat? I'm not sure. Levi had his first ear infection. Actually, it's the first ear infection I've ever had to deal with. And by deal with, I mean ignore. I'm not one to medicate much and since he seemed on the mend, I decided to forego antibiotics.
Sunday I was the only one to go to church. Monday and Tuesday were movie days. The boys and I cuddled up in bed and didn't leave it practically all day. Occassionally I found something tasty to try to make them eat, unsuccesfully. Lazy, boring, sick days.
Today they are getting better. Crackers and chocolate milk have been palatable to wee ones and the coughing has slowed to once every 45 seconds. They are actually out of bed and playing with toys. Levi has smiled more this morning than he did all the last 3 days.
I am spending this morning washing all sheets and blankets and getting this flu demon out of my house. I hate having sick babies and I'm so glad it's over(ish)!

I'm awesome.

2011-01-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

I got a new calling a couple of weeks ago. Out with the piano, in with the... baton? I don't know how the bishopric got it into their heads that I should do something in music. I chalk it up to inspiration. Otherwise I would never be brave or non-lazy enough to take on new callings.

My new calling is Assistant Primary chorister.

What does an assistant chorister do? Why I'm glad you asked. I'm not sure this was a real calling until I got it. The new primary chorister, aka my superior, is heavy with child. I mean heavy. She's got like a month left till the bouncing ball of goo arrives. I was given this calling as a back up for the ticking time bomb. Said ticking time bomb asked me to direct every other week. Well, that sounded like craziness to me, but being one who tries (not always successfully, as my last venture proves) to magnify their calling, I accepted.

Yesterday was my first day behind the stand. I was nervous. I made paper cubes that told who (all those with sisters... etc...) and how (like an opera singer... etc...) they had to sing. Then I thought that idea was lame and I stuffed the cubes in the bottom of my bag, where I was sure they would be crumpled.

Next I decided on a bribe. This seemed like the best way to get in with the younglings. They sang and I tested their knowledge of the new song. Of course I let even the ones who sucked have candy. What are you gonna do?

Besides the bribe I didn't do anything majorly special. I had loads of energy and acted a little silly.

I got a lot of compliments on my singing time. One lady said I was a "shot in the arm" for the room full of old teachers. That was nice. I guess since I fall between the wee folk and the foot-in-the-gravers I can relate to everyone.

My apprehension for this calling has shifted to excitement. I'm pretty sure I will like it. Does that necessarily mean the kids will like it?

Nope.

New Resolutions

2011-01-09T18:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, updated list. I had a couple of successes last year, but you will notice some of my resolutions sound an awful lot like last year's failures. For instance:

#1. Finish losing Levi weight. I'm about 8 pounds off

#2. Do 1 load of laundry every day. That might sound like a lot, but in a house with three little boys and one husband it's a necessity. Unless they all want to sleep in dirty sheets for the rest of their lives.

#3. Keep up my scriptures everyday. I did pretty well last year. This year I'll do even better.

#4. Teach Adam to read and write. He doesn't have to be perfect, but I want him to start kindergarden prepared in the fall.

#5. Feed my family better. We are far too partial to pizza and ice cream.

#6. Make the bed Monday through Friday. Up from 3 times last year.

That's it for now. I have a whole list of resolutions that are all family oriented, these are just my personals. I don't know why I feel comfortable revealing mine here and not my family's. My privacy means nothing to me, but my family's does. Weird huh? Anyway, wish me luck!

Stupid Resolutions!

2011-01-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

I am all for making goals to better myself. I think it's a great thing to resolve to do better. Do you know what I dislike strongly? When other people's stupid lifestyle fads interfere with my life! I went to the gym yesterday only to find the class I usually take was full of fair weather gym goers. I go ten minutes early to make sure there is room for me. I went about 20 minutes early yesterday only to find that the class had filled up at 4:34, four minutes after the sign up sheet was put out. You know in two weeks you won't be there anymore. Why are you stealing class room from me? I go regularly, not because I resolved to lose ten pounds in two months(which I did of course. Gotta finish last year's goal!).
In closing, people, please give up already. Thank you.

Hooray!

2011-01-02T08:16:00.001-08:00

10:30 Church rocks my socks!

Accountability

2011-01-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

Last New Years (well, not quite the day, but around that area) I posted my resolutions for the year so that I could be held slightly more accountable. Facing public failure is much worse than private failure. I figure before I make me resolutions for this year, I should see, and let you all see, how I fared last year. Here the original goals are, with how I did.

#1 Lay off procrastinating! Especially in school.
- I did well in school with procrastination. But, I got a calling that I'm unqualified for (in my eyes) that makes me frustrated to the point that I procrastinate and therefore perform much worse. (Do I smell a 2011 resolution forming in my already bountiful list of needed improvements?)
#2 Take my boys to the park more often.
- We moved to a place that has a little park in the complex. The park sucks but they get out and play in the grass. Basically, I've fulfilled this to the lowest degree necessary, but I still count it as a success!
#3 Do more with my kids learning wise.
- Ace for me! Adam is in a preschool, we practice letters and read more. In fact, he's gearing up to be a reader pretty soon.
#4 Make the bed at least 3 times a week.
- Depends on what week....
#5 Read a few inspirational/uplifting books.
- I can't think of a single book that fulfills this requirement. Shame on me.
#6 Get good grades.
- Rock on.
#7 Weigh 125 again by Christmas
- HAH! umm.... nearly?... ish?
#8 Be happy if "she" turns out to be another boy.
- Levi is fantastic. I still wanna call him Levina sometimes, but I don't even dress him in pink anymore...
#9 Family prayer.
- not consistently
FHE
- hardly ever
Scripture reading
- always. This was a three fer, so technically I know that 2 out of 3 is losing, but I consider it a win that I've incorporated scripture into my everyday life. Thank you ldsdailyread.com!

Some of these resolutions didn't have a clear pass/fail. For instance, I probably got an F in bed making, because I fulfilled it less than half the time. But is that really a fail? I don't know....
We shall call it a draw.
Coming soon: 2011 goals from which to fall remarkably short.

Galleria Mall

2010-12-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

We went to the mall to hear the Sacramento Choir break into the Hallelujah Chorus as a Christmas flash mob. We thought we were just some people who knew someone. Nope. A good portion of Roseville showed up to listen. There were 5000 people shoved into the food court. Something like 50 people called 911 to say they could hear the floor cracking and shifting. I took this video about 10 minutes before the mall was evacuated by the fire department. We never got to hear the Hallelujah chorus. =(

Sweet guy

2010-12-22T07:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Caleb and I had a cute conversation. It went something like this.

Caleb: "mommy can I have some m&ms?"

Me: "nope!"

Caleb: "but you always say yes!"

Me: "well I'm saying no."

Caleb: "but...but... But you're the sweet guy and daddy's the mad guy!"

I laughed so hard. What a booger he is to try to work us already.
Ps. I'm definitely the mad guy, they just don't care. They only pay attention when kyle's upset.

They're getting Nuttin' for Christmas!

2010-12-19T20:19:00.000-08:00

I don't claim to have perfect children. They are, after all, all boys. Generally, I consider them pretty well behaved. Adam always listens when you tell him to do something. Caleb... well he whines and cries. Still, they don't have any major disciple problems. Even their mischievous i-know-this-is-wrong-but-i'm-gonna-do-it-anyway moments are pretty tame. So, when I tell you my story, keep in mind that for them, this is about the worst thing they've purposely done.
It starts in the bathtub, as trouble often does. They bathe together and I let them play till they get nice and raisin-y. I check on them occasionally, but I can hear them from my room, so I don't worry too much.
They are bathing, having a grand old time. I go downstairs for 2 minutes to sweep the kitchen floor. Dust pan in hand, I hear a pitter-patter from above. Thinking Levi had miraculously grown muscles and coordination, I went to check the noise. I see one, two flashes of flesh. I'm not nearly as alarmed by that as by the things in their hands. What do they have?
Giggles are coming from the bathroom. Giggles, and an awful lot of splashing. I round the corner and they come into view. Both are now laying down in the bathtub, with blankets, pillows, toys, and worst of all: books. Books in the bathtub! They ruined 5 books, including a nice copy of Animalia, which is more mine and Kyle's than theirs. Everything was soaked.
I don't think I've been so mad at them. After getting the riff raff out of the tub, I finished washing the little devils and put them straight to bed. It was barely 6 o'clock.
The books were beyond helping. I tried to wring out the blankets, but eventually gave up. Instead I grabbed a laundry basket, transported them downstairs and put them in the washer. Pillows just had to dry out.
Now that it's been a few days and I no longer want to scream when I think about it, it's actually kind of funny. They wanted to read in the bathtub. It's cute, right?
Right???

New word

2010-12-16T21:59:00.000-08:00

Adam used a new word today.

To Caleb, "Fine! Be a attitude!"

To me and Kyle, "I called him a attitude."

He was so proud of himself for using a new word that we didn't have the heart to tell him he used it wrong...

First Date

2010-12-13T10:34:00.001-08:00

We have a couple of friends who come over to our house and play regularly. They bring their 3 kids everytime and the boys love playing with them. Last night we turned on Shrek 4 to keep them quiet while we played cards. They were quiet. Maybe too quiet?
It was so funny to check on them and realize that they had paired off. Caleb was with Irelynn, who is 7. They shared a seat. Adam was with Kalaya. She is his age and they are in primary together. Yes, for those of you wondering, this is the girl he was making out with during the Primary program. I had to get a picture of them cuddling.

Hey Santa!

2010-12-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I do not push Santa. I don't know why we decided that. I like to think maybe we don't feel right about lying to our kids. That sounds slightly noble right? I think the truth is probably that I don't remember a Christmas far enough back to where Santa would have been the man. I don't remember thinking Santa was coming or spying on me. My earliest Christmas memory is of staying awake until midnight. That's when Santa was supposed to come, but the presents were already all under the tree. The tree was a sight. No green, it was a rod in the middle and tinsel (possibly pink?) wrapped on wire. Think Lady Gaga's dress where she held the star in her hand. That dress is my earliest Christmas memory. Oh what fun, right?
So, at Christmas we talk about presents and about Jesus, but leave the fat guy out of the equation.
Dunno how exactly they came to believe in Santa... probably everyone around us. I think my Dad secretly whispered all about sugarplum fairies and flying reindeer. I'm not anti Santa... just not the biggest pusher of fantasies. I wonder if we'll tell them about the tooth fairy...?
Recently we were walking through Walmart. A sweet old guy was just begging to be recognized. His white beard and red sweater screamed purveyor of presents and consumer of cookies. Caleb said, "Hi Santa!" He was pretty excited.
I am not sure how they came to believe in Jolly Old Saint Nick, but there it is. My kids are suckers.
And you know what?
I think it's pretty great.

2010-11-22T13:52:00.000-08:00

I made the boys sandwiches today and sat them down to eat. Caleb starts whining about how he doesn't feel good. It goes something like this.

Caleb: "I don't feel very good right now."

Me: "You're fine. Eat your food."

Caleb; "But I don't feel very good."

Me: "What doesn't feel good? Your head... your stomach...?"

Caleb: "My Sandwich!"

Well played, Caleb. Well played.

The Five Stages of Grief

2010-11-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

The Allen twist...

Stage One: Denial. As in, "Not being able to breathe is no reason to go to the hospital."

Stage Two: Acceptance. No one would be entirely shocked and if the person chose to stop suffering, how could you hold it against them?

Stage Three: Laughter. What isn't funny when you are sleep deprived?

Stage Four: Bargaining. Not necessarily for ourselves. As in, "If you get better, Whitney will have a baby."

Stage Five: Dibs. As in, "I get the Kindle!" Really, I do. It has my sticker on it.

Halloween

2010-11-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

My family scrapbook pages go something like this. Halloween, halloween, christmas, one fun family day, halloween. That's right. Halloween is the holiday I always chronicle. This year I dressed up three different times. I was a black cat on Thursday, a gypsy on Friday, and an egyptian on Saturday. It was fun. I don't like to buy things for Halloween, I just dig through the closet. That's how I end up dressing different for every party. It's just more fun. Sadly, I have only one picture of Halloween. Total. I suck this year. You can't see my Egyptian make up and barely see the gold braided into my hair. Adam couldn't wear his mask at church. Levi isn't even in the picture. He's on the floor in his car seat. He was a cow. (Imagine that!)

ps. Is Kyle the cutest golfer or what?

Dear Ashley,

2010-10-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

Thank you for leaving replys after my posts. I love knowing that someone out there is actually interested in what I am writing. Otherwise what's the point? If no one is listening, I could just use my journal! For those of you who don't know how to reply, (Chris) there is a comment and pencil button right under each post. It's a great place to, I don't know.... Leave a comment! =D

Caleb's ear hole

2010-10-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

To anyone wondering, we aren't getting the ear hole closing surgery at this moment. They said don't worry about it too much unless it gets infected to the point of needing antibiotics. It's never gotten that bad so we aren't too concerned. On the other hand, we might get it just so he doesn't have a hole in his head that could cause him problems later on. We shall see.

Daddy Daughter Date

2010-10-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

I am very lucky to live by my dad. When I want to visit him I can stop by his work or drive to his house. You would think I'd get to see him a lot that way, but it just isn't the case. Our one car is usually with Kyle, at work. We try to get together for piano lessons, but it doesn't work out very often. Well this last week we went on a date. My mom was funny. She said we were only hanging out together cause she was too busy. Well Mom, I love your guts, but I wanted to hang out with Dad! It's okay. Don't be jealous.
We had a grand time. We ate lunch and went to a movie. Nothing super thrilling. It's the company that makes a date great! We had fun just chatting and catching up.
You know, most people get a Dad and that's it. They're stuck with him. Thank goodness I got to pick mine. My Dad rocks. He's smart. Not in your face smart, like he's trying to show off (except the occasional big word he throws in that you have no idea of its meaning.) He's supportive to an extreme measure. He's strong and when things go wrong he picks himself up and chugs along. And when things go wrong for me he picks me up and shoves even when I dig in my heels. He's always helping and taking care of me. He tries to teach me piano even though I am a horrible student. (I don't practice enough) He calls just to sing Happy Birthday to the boys, even if he is going to see them that day. How cool is that? He is always willing to babysit, even when my mom says no. (Of course, she ends up doing most of the leg work. He takes care of the cuddling and playing. Still, it often includes a little schedule tweaking and he is happy to convince her to do it.)
I always joke that I'm my Dad's favorite child. The great thing about my Dad is that he makes all of us feel that way. Anyone who hangs out with him can't help but feel special. But still... I'm his favorite.

Statistics

2010-10-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

All 3 boys had doctor's appointments this last week. The appointments went well, though the boys judged me harshly when I held them down for shots. I could see the betrayal in their tiny eyes. "Why mommy, why!?" Luckily the two older boys don't have to go back for a year. They will have forgotten by then.
Adam looked great. The doc was happy. Levi is a lizard. My poor baby has to be soaked in water a couple of times everyday and then lotioned to death to try to keep his skin on him. The doctor was interested in Caleb's ear hole. He's had it his whole life. We have an appointment with an ear nose and throat specialist on Monday to see if it needs to be closed up yet.

It had been a while for the older 2 so it was kind of fun to see their growth. And now, I will share it with anyone who cares. If you don't... what are you? heartless? Have you seen how cute my kids are?!
Ahem...

Moving on...

Levi:
Weighs 12 pounds which puts him in the 22%
Is exactly 2 feet, which puts him in the 54%
Does anyone care about his head size? This is the most boring category to me. Nevertheless, here it is: 16" which makes him 35%

Summary: Levi is average height, but skinny. Though he had an alien head, it is not big.

Caleb:
Weighs 31 pounds, which is the 50%
Is 3'3", which is 80%
BMI (This is a super cool category that I just found at Kaiser. They never did it at their old doctor's office.) Because he is tall and only medium weight he is in the 9%.

Summary: Caleb is actually skinny for his height. Go figure.

Adam:
Weighs 32 pounds, (only one more than Caleb) which is the 20%
is 3'5", which is the 66%
BMI (ready for this?) is in the 1%. That's right. 99% of children his height weigh more than him

Summary: Even though Poptarts are 9 points in Weight Watchers, I am not a bad mom for feeding them to my kids. Adam is proof that maybe a little fattening up wouldn't hurt!

We Win

2010-10-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

RIP Gus Gus

Dear Moms of the World,

2010-10-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Am I the only sane one of you left?!
Do you all use babies as excuses? Or do you honestly not wake your baby up to go places you've committed to be?
You've got to be joking me! I have 3 kids, one is a newborn. I still wake him up if I say I'm going to be somewhere. Do you wanna know why? Cause I run this show, not them! I RUN this show.

Just a cute picture.

2010-10-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

This is a one dollar shirt from Target. I love those $1 bins. They are so fun.

Reasons to never take a vacation

2010-10-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

1. You are more exhausted when you get back than you were when you decided you needed a vacation.
2. 20,000 loads of laundry
3. (worst of all!) Critters move in while you are away.

We just got back from vacation. I will post fun pictures later. Maybe. If I don't forget or get lazy. First thing I noticed were bugs. Nasty little things that look kind of like ants. I know we are having a national problem with bed bugs, so that was my first thought. I'm not sure they fit the profile though. Either way, whatever they are, I feel my skin crawling all day and all night.
The joyous second discovery happened while Adam and I were practicing numbers. (Mostly Adam. I have a pretty good handle on my numbers.) There was something black in my peripheral vision. I thought maybe it was just my hair, but just to be sure, I went where I thought I'd seen something.
There it went again! Tiny little mouse in my living room. Disgusting.

Reasons to rent instead of own a home:
1. Extermination coverage.
Priceless.

Unnerving

2010-09-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

You know what's icky? Having peed underwear.

You know what's worse? If it's someone else's pee.

Ah, the joys of being a newborn's mommy.

If you don't have anything nice to say... please don't grasp at straws!

2010-09-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Piano playing today did not go well. I practiced this week and got semi okay at the songs I was supposed to be playing today. Then I second guessed myself and decided to play the simplified versions, without ever having practiced them. I am not a fantastic sight reader. Okay... I suck.
I got a few very interesting compliments when Relief Society was over.
#1: "I love listening to you play. It's so great when people have to stretch themselves for a calling. You're going to learn so much."
#2: "Thank you for playing. I love listening to you. You're so brave. You just always keep going. It gives me hope that I could learn to play the piano."
What I heard, "I'm trying to be encouraging, but that was just awful."
Thanks.
I hear ya.

Simple Joys

2010-09-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

Who knew that such tiny things could bring such great amounts of happiness? My boys needed new shoes. I ended up at Walmart one day.

Regular Tennis Shoes= $10

Awesome Lightning McQueen/Spiderman Tennis Shoes= $15

Sure it cost me $10 extra dollars between the two of them, but those shoes may have made me the coolest mom ever. They have barely left feet since purchased. During nap time, they get tucked in with the little boys that own them.

Who knew that buying shoes could do the job of clothing children as well as providing them with toys?

Two birds, meet my stone!

Gratitude.

2010-09-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

I felt the need for some kind of spiritual... connection today. Uplifting isn't the right word, and neither is fulfillment. In fact it is due to the uplifting I've felt recently that I was searching for it. If that makes any kind of sense.
Kyle and I fasted this month for something that we needed help with. We've fasted before as a family, but I haven't been able to in a long time, since I was pregnant. I am not sure I've really appreciated the blessings of a fast before. We were answered so quickly and so thoroughly that I wondered why we don't fast every Sunday. We were blessed in a way that was so obviously heaven sent one couldn't help but be amazed and grateful.
We are a very blessed family. All our children are healthy, they are well behaved and beautiful. We love where we live. Our new ward has been extremely welcoming and those relationships are quickly becoming great friendships. We both have callings that allow us the opportunity to serve and (especially me) to learn. We love each other in a way that neither of us expected or understood when we got married. We have great extended families that love and care about our well being. Kyle has a job at which he excels. The list goes on and on... There are a hundred more ways in which we are blessed. That is just a molecule in the ice of the tip of my iceburg. I'm not trying to brag... I'm just feeling very grateful today.

You've Changed

2010-09-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Kyle and I have always had a certain way of parenting. Our babies learned to cry it out from an early age and no child has ever slept in our bed. When Caleb was 6 weeks old and not sleeping through the night, he got a little shove in the right direction. It included turning on fans and any other forms of white noise so that we didn't hear him cry at night. It may seem mean, but within one week he figured out how to sleep on Mommy and Daddy hours.
A couple of nights ago Kyle and I are laying in bed long past little boy bed time. I tell him, "I miss Levi."
He says, "Well, go get him!" I was shocked. I had felt myself going soft, but I never thought in a hundred years it would happen to Kyle.
I confronted him, "You would let Levi sleep in our bed every night wouldn't you?"
"I totally would. I just want to cuddle him."
I guess it's true that you change the more kids you have. I just didn't think it would happen so soon. I thought maybe when they were teenagers or something. Nope. Kyle and I are now officially soft as marshmallows!

Be Thou Humble

2010-08-30T10:09:00.001-07:00

I made the mistake of letting my bishopric know that I don't turn down callings. I never have because it seems to me that if the bishopric is inspired to call you somewhere you ought not say no to the Lord!
Right?
Well, what if the bishopric feels inspired to call you to be a pianist and you don't play the piano? Are you still required to say yes? Probably. I said yes anyway. I'm terrified though. I got the schedule for the hymns for the rest of the year and I've been practicing about an hour and a half every day. It's not going well. I stumbled across this gem while I was practicing and it made me feel a little better.
"Be thou humble in thy weakness and the Lord thy God shall lead thee, Shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers. Be thou humble in thy calling and the Lord thy God shall teach thee to serve his children gladly with a pure and gentle love."
I like to cut off the end after the "Lord thy God shall teach thee." Since I'm in need of literal teaching, it speaks directly to me like this. I figure if Heavenly Father is gonna teach me how to play the piano and I'm willing to practice it can't be a complete failure.
PS. Should you have a little extra time in your prayers, remember me!

Failure?

2010-08-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

My plan for Levi was to breastfeed him for as long as possible. My sister Ashley is my inspiration. She is just hitting the 6 month mark with her son. What a champ huh? I haven't done it longer than 6 weeks with either of the first two boys and I was determined to make it!. First off, in case you are a man, let me tell you why this is hard.
1. You must stay within 30 feet of your baby at all times. Going out of the house has to be done in one hour increments just in case the wee one gets hungry. There is always the option of pumping and storing for times when you are away from home, but then you increase the demand and therefore the supply. If you stop pumping there is too much hanging around and that's just not fun.
2. You may have to give up foods you enjoy because your baby doesn't like them.
3. Baby doesn't get as full as formula babies so you have to feed them more often.
4. Hello! That tiny bag of bones already hijacked your body for 9 months. You think once you evict him you can get it back, but the truth is he still runs the show!
5. It's supposed to help you lose weight. For me, it hinders it. I am great at dieting, but you aren't supposed to diet when you are breastfeeding.
6. Public outings. Need I say more?
So, I know there are a million reasons why breastfeeding is good for baby. Hence, why I wanted to succeed this time.
Well, last week Levi was having a super rough couple of nights. I was afraid he was getting colic. He was just miserable and needing to be held all the bloody time! One night it got really bad. I fed him twice within a one hour period because it was the only way to calm him down. My mom suggested giving him formula and I shot it down. Heck no! 5 weeks old and he hasn't touched the stuff yet! I'm doing so good. After 15 or so more minutes of crying I gave in.
What a difference. My baby was immediately happy and full and relaxed. I continued formula for a couple of days and he was happy as a clam. I decided to let the gals dry up and continue formula.
I was sad that it came to this. I had been so proud of myself. I was succeeding! But then not...
I know a lot of people judge formula moms. I have friends who would not be happy and would lecture my poor boobs into shame. But you know who is happy? Me and Levi. So there. It's not failure if both Levi and I are happier because of it.

A poopy post

2010-08-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

So, ward campout. New ward. We love it. So welcoming and accepting. We had a ward campout this last Friday. We had decided we would just go for the activities at night and not stay over night. Things were going great. I'd met like 5 new people, the boys had made friends and I'd eaten steak. Sounds pretty perfect no?
A little area had been taped off due to a septic leak. People knew not to pitch tents there. My kids, I'm assuming thought that meant it was a designated play area. Yup. You guessed it. My boys went puddle splashing. In poop. They are the smelly children. Joy

First Pictures of Levi

2010-07-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

Levi Daniel Parkhurst

2010-07-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Levi Daniel was born on July 20th, 2010 at 10:28 PM. He weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz and was 19 and 3/4 inches long. He has brown hair and dark eyes that I'm guessing will be brown.
Everything went grand and easy as pie. I will post some pictures soon, but I can't on this computer cause it sucks. =)

Come on!!!!

2010-07-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

That's it. I'm officially filing a complaint against the stork. Sure he said between June 28th and July 19th. I know there's that whole 3 week span. But why do delivery people always do that?!?! They expect us to take off work and put our lives on hold because they will show up eventually in that time frame. Just tell me when the frick you are gonna show! Don't give me a giant span of time and show up on the tail end.
With Caleb the stork was so prompt. I know he's got nothing better to do. He's just taking his sweet old time because he can. He's probably parked out in front of my house eating a sandwich in his kidnapper van because he knows he doesn't HAVE to be here yet.
Piss me off....

Stupid Truck

2010-07-11T10:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I tried to borrow my parents' truck. We recently got our boys bunk beds, but haven't had a way to get them mattresses. I was at their house so I figured I would just drive the truck home. Yeah right.
(Please remember I'm a week away from my due date, it was hot outside, and I had both of the boys with me. Truly this wouldn't have been such a dramatic occurrence if I was alone and not carrying a giant bowling ball in front of me.)
First problem: The truck wouldn't start. Oh, there was nothing wrong with it... I guess turning the key so hard there are indents in my fingers just isn't sufficient. The boys are buckled in and sweating already. My dad finally tries the ignition and of course it fires right up for him.
Problem B: The stupid thing that points of the PRDN23 doesn't exactly work. It goes between two of the letters, so what I thought was Drive was actually Neutral. Stupid truck.
Problem III: The truck had no gas. Or did it? All signs point to empty. When I go to fill it it does the clicking thing and refuses to fill. I'm sweating like crazy at this point, nearly swearing at the frickin thing. I leave the boys in the boiling car and go tell the guy at the register to help me. "The tank is full" he says. Sure, of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?!?!
Fourth problem: A mile down the road the engine starts smoking. I wasn't sure at first. Then I came to a stop light. Smoke is billowing out from under the hood and now filling the car. Adam says, "Mommy, we gotta get out of this place because it smells like hot dogs!" You're right Adam. Hotdog smelling cars are never good.
I pull over and we all get out of the car (lest it does us all the favor of just blowing up.) While waiting for rescue from my parents, I call Kyle. Poor guy. I'm not scared or hurt, I'm just frustrated. But how do you articulate that through tears? He thought I must have gotten in an accident and been hurt or something.
Anyway, eventually I was rescued and got home safe and sound. I know it wasn't as big of a deal as I made it out to be. I knew that while it was happening. I blame it on being pregnant. AHH.. sweet pregnancy, the 9 month long disease for which there is only one cure: the expulsion of an 8 pound parasite! Unfortunately all that excitement didn't put me into labor. I thought at least one good thing might come of it. Nope!

Silly Boy

2010-07-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

A conversation between me and Adam.

Adam: "Where is Daddy going?"

Me: "To work."

Adam: "Why?"

Me: "Because he needs to work."

Adam: "So he can make money to get more toys?"

HAH! As if my kids need any more toys! Where would I put them?!?!

Update

2010-07-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

We are still settling into our new home. Most of our furniture and things are here and put together. The boys are still lacking mattresses on their new bunk beds and Levi's room is a disaster. His crib isn't set up and the boys are sort of using it as a toy/junk room.
My due date is July 19th. Less than two weeks away. YAY! Levi's just hanging out, having a grand old time in there. I am pretty certain he practices martial arts; from the feel of things, I'd say he's set to be the next Jackie Chan! We're not quite ready for him. I don't have a single diaper in the house. Luckily, I still have a little bit of time left. I'm only a fingertip dialated. I think that means less than a one. I'm kind of happy I probably won't be having him this week since my doctor is out of town. This doctor also delivered Caleb and since he's already seen me inside out, I don't wanna go to someone new.
We haven't been to our new ward yet. We went camping last week and were moving the week before that. I'm sad about leaving our old ward. I'm slightly anti-social, so it took me about 3 years to get comfortable and make friends in the Rossmoor ward. Who knows when I'll be at home again in this new one. Another thing is Levi will be born once we've gone to one week of church. No one will care about him like they would have at my old ward and he will be blessed in a place where NO ONE knows him. I'm just sad. Not to mention, no one will even really be aware that we will be needing meals when he's born. My last ward brought dinners for 4 nights I think. Oh the joy of making dinner the same day I get home from the hospital! I would say Kyle could handle it for a few days, but honestly, I've never met anyone as hopeless in the kitchen. He ruins the Nestle Tollhouse cookies that come prepackaged. No joke. I didn't know that was possible. How he survived a mission at all is a mystery. I'm assuming either his companions took care of him or he ate A LOT of cereal. My money is on cereal. I imagine that's all the boys will eat while I'm in the hospital.
Speaking of Kyle, I just gotta say... I'm lucky to have that guy. We were talking about it the other day, and came to the conclusion that we need each other! He's the ying to my yang, the peanut butter to my jelly, the cheese to my mac! Sometimes people think it would be easier if they were married to someone more like them. Let me tell you, for Kyle and me, that would be a nightmare. Kyle would not get along with a Type A as a spouse and if I'd married someone like me(Someone so Type B, we're nearly C's), we'd be unemployed and possibly homeless! Like a sandwich with peanut butter on both sides, it just wouldn't be right! I'm not gonna lie and say I'm always as appreciative of Kyle as I should. Sure, there are days I would love to shove him full of Ritalin just so I could take a nap, but mostly I just love that guy and can't get enough of him.

Coming soon... pictures of our new house.

"Hey Napoleon, give me some of your tots!"

2010-06-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

I know that certain things are supposed to happen when you grow up. You are supposed to do and like certain things. You are supposed to give up or look down on certain others. You are supposed to be an adult.
But I gotta say...
Some days, tater tots are an excellent lunch!
Marred only by their uncanny ability to bring memories of mystery meat and hairnets from your youth, these salty bastardized potato children are nearly perfect!
Just thought I'd share my thoughts on lunch!

Moving!

2010-06-23T10:52:00.001-07:00

Yup. It's finally time. Kyle and I are heading to Rocklin to be closer to his work. We're super excited. Our new house is bigger than what we had and our rent will be less than our mortgage was. YAY! I love packing because we've gotten rid of so much crap! Who knew there was so much unused stuff accumulating in our house? Kyle has taken out probably an average of 3 loads of trash every day for the last week. It's grand knowing all that clutter isn't coming to the new house.
Speaking of grand.... you know what's not grand? Packing when you are 9 months pregnant! I have 3 and a half weeks left of being pregnant (though I'm guessing/hoping less). Kyle doesn't have me carry anything. He is awesome. Still, yesterday while he was at work I took apart both of the cribs. It wasn't so bad, mostly just unscrewing things... but today my legs are sore. Who knows what I did. I let myself get way too out of shape just because I'm pregnant....
Tangent, I know... I tend to do that...
Yesterday we sold our old computer desk and hopefully today we are selling the old couch. They just would not go in the new house. I love our old couch, but it was a pain in the butt. Hooray for new furniture! Another tangent.... I LOVE craigslist! Who needs a garage sale when you can get rid of anything online!?
Um... yeah... I think that pretty much covers it: we're moving, it sucks, and it's awesome, and I love craiglist. Done.

2010-06-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Sweet Old Ladies of My Ward,
I love that you are all thrilled that I'm having a baby. I love the congratulations and I love how excited you are at my growing girth. It's sweet the way you look forward to the birth of babies in the ward. It's awesome that my baby has a Parkhurst family and a ward family.
However, just because my tummy sticks out and houses a person, does not make it public property. It's sweet you wanna be a part of my pregnancy, but I don't even know all of your names and you're feeling me up! Before you think I'm being rude, please know that my husband is the only one with an all access pass. Even my mom and sisters ask permission before they get handsy with me. If people who've known me all my life still ask before touching, shouldn't you? Something to ponder...
Christina

Not Failing

2010-06-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, I had to go back and read my Resolutions for this post. I thought I was failing miserably. Good news. I'm actually doing pretty good. I thought I had written how much weight I wanted to top out at while pregnant. Thank goodness I didn't! I went camping for the last week and a half. No scale... lots of food.
The first few days it rained almost constantly. What do you do when it's raining and you're stuck inside? You eat. Well, I eat anyway.
S'mores, cookies, candies... and then there is my dad's dutch oven cake that he makes by lining the bottom with candy bars.
Delicious?
Of course!
Fattening?
Well, I don't know... lets ask my poor, overworked scale.
The last month I was doing so good with my weight gain. A pound a week keeps the doctor away... or from yelling at me anyway. In the 2 weeks that included camping I gained 5 pounds!!!! I felt I had to apologize and explain at the doctor's office when they weighed me today. How embarrassing! I have now gained a total of 34 pounds. I was hoping to gain only 35 this whole pregnancy. I was doing pretty good too... But with at least 6 weeks left, it looks like I may top out at 40. AGAIN!!!!
Ugh. Baby making is stressful. You would think being pregnant gives you free reign to eat whatever you want. Well... you can if you want, but you will suffer the consequences (fat face, no ankles, thighs that jiggle minutes after you've stopped walking... the list goes on and on.)
So, here's to a skinny last 6 weeks!

Caleb the Athlete!

2010-06-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

We went camping this last week. It was so much fun. For a few days, all the grandkids were there. There are 8 in our family by the way. Adam is the oldest at 3 years old. While they were all there it rained non-stop. It was kind of miserable at first. One day I begged Kyle to take the boys on a walk so they could get out and play even if it was muddy and icky. He ended up taking most of the kids. It was great! They had so much fun. As an added bonus, by the time they got back to camp they were exhausted and ready for bed.
Kyle took this video of the kids racing. I thought it was hilarious! That Caleb just cracks me up! Watch as he stops to pick flowers, then stops because he drops flowers.... He's just a riot!

Just a typical Sunday after church.....

2010-05-24T14:52:00.000-07:00

Me: "Caleb, go put your dirty socks in the laundry."

(Caleb runs off to my closet, where he encounters Kyle undressing after church)

Caleb: "Daddy, get out of here!"

Kyle: "Don't talk to me that way. This is my freaking room."

Caleb: "No, come on, I'll show you."

(Caleb takes Kyle by the hand and leads him out of the closet.)

Caleb: (pointing) "This is your freaking room."

I know that's a totally random post, but we both about died laughing. =D

Update

2010-05-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

I am negative for gestational diabetes. Yay! Bring on the ice cream!

And Pictures!

2010-05-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the blurriness. Anyone with 2 boys can tell you, it's not easy getting them to pose for pictures. They are monkeys and nearly impossible to get holding still!

\
In the second picture Caleb is sitting on Adam's lap in the car (Yes, I'm aware it wasn't safe, but it was a super short distance and it was 100% necessary. Don't judge me!) I thought it was so funny that Caleb was tired enough to actually fall asleep on Adam's lap. So cute. Adam's actually almost out too. Not quite... but pretty close.

Good Morning!

2010-05-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

This is my first time posting a video, so I hope it works.

It recently came to my attention that people that I didn't know were reading actually are. (Hi Ray!) Now, my blog is pretty random and may not be all that interesting to some, so I figured I would make it a little bit more of what people wanted to see and less of my everyday musings.

This is how Kyle wakes up every morning. Not 2 times out of 3, not 6 times out of a week. Every Freaking Morning. And he absolutely loves it! I happen to know he's thrilled our next baby is Levi instead of a Levi-tina. He can't wait for him to come out and get to jumping age. (The better to wrestle you with, my dear!) Now, remember I'm in the bed too. Me and all 7 months of Levi inside me. I am constantly in the danger zone, but when you get 3 boys wrestling it just doesn't matter. I become little more than an afterthought. If anything I'm considered collateral damage to their war games.

I hope you like the video!

Gloucose

2010-05-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Stupid blood sugar test. I said I wasn't going to take it. The last two pregnancies I've come in the perfect range. All it does is waste an hour of my super busy life. =) Well, I got in trouble at my doctor's office. I was told it's mandatory.
Whatever.
Don't make me do stuff.
I went anyway. I'm a big pansy when it comes to people telling me I have to do something. I'd rather do it than argue.
Today I got a call from my doctor's office. Yup. I failed a blood test. Of all the tests in the world, I failed one that I couldn't even study for. (I sure hope this isn't a new trend. It's finals week!)
I thought I knew everything. "Oh, I've never had a blood sugar problem. I'm awesome and invincible." Stupid me. Life has a way of reminding me there are lots of things I just don't know, even things I think I'm sure about.
I will be taking the 3 hour blood test on Friday. I will keep you posted.
On a different note, I realize that my blog has taken a turn to focusing all on pregnancy stuff. I'm sure this is boring for some of you. I'm sorry. On the other hand, it's kind of my life right now, so you know... If you don't wanna know, don't read. I promise to keep it clean and what I think is interesting. There will be no placenta, dialating, mucus plugging talk, (<- This being the exception, of course.) so if that stuff makes you feel icky, or if you are a man, at least know you are in the clear for reading.
I will try to post some pictures of the fam soon. The boys are awesome and it's selfish for me to keep them all to myself! I probably won't post any pictures of myself. 30 pound overweight me is not my favorite version of myself...
Now that I've slightly rambled...
ta ta for now!

Pregnancy and High Heels

2010-05-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

When I'm pregnant I like to draw attention away from my expanding physique to just about anything else.

Fun colors of makeup make it so people pay more attention to my eyes than to the fact that I've lost my chin in a sea of mushy flesh. Even if some people think it's too much, too colorful, or verging on hookerish, I don't care. It's fun and their eyes are drawn away from other things.

High heels thin out legs. My legs are pretty short for someone my height anyway, but add a couple extra pounds to each of them and you have yourself a tree trunk situation. Again, my shoes may border on hookerish, but I get my ankles back so red light district here I come!

Well, there I went anyway.

Stupid shoes.

You would think just 4 (or so) extra inches wouldn't be a long way to fall if you lost your balance. You'd be wrong.

I'd like to blame it on the floor. Stupid cement was all uneven. Still... I don't think I've ever fallen all the way down to the floor in my heels before, bad floor or not. It was very embarrassing. Not so much falling. Heck, people trip all the freaking time right? Just falling and being pregnant and having people freak out and ask how you landed and if you're okay and to be sure you don't start having contractions and yada yada yada.

For the record, my hip caught me.

And I'm okay.

And Levi's just dandy. I imagine for him it was like the tower of terror. He was free falling, the floor coming at him so fast and at the last second, he was safe in his little cocoon. The most damage it did him was give him a love of amusement park adrenaline. No big deal.

Stupid shoes.

So, should I really go high-heel-less for the next 3 months? That just makes me sad to think about. My shoes are sad too. I think I hear them beckoning me to the closet. I hear their sad pleas. They've past denial and anger. They've reached bargaining. "Your legs will look so much better with us at the bottom of them." "Come and play with us, Forever and ever and ever."

So sad.

For now they are staying in the closet. We shall see what happens. It's taken me 3 pregnancies to fall even once, so I'm thinking it may have been a one time thing. And there was the floor to consider. Can't people just fix their stupid parking lots to be even?

3 months might just be too long to put away heels...

Final Judgment

2010-04-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

I have a thought on the final judgment.

Basically after we die our good and bad deeds are measured against each other. Right? Well, this is the very dumbed down kind of explanation. There's obviously a whole lot more, including the fact we couldn't do any of it without Jesus's atonement, even if we were nearly perfect.

That being said...

I think parenthood may be Heavenly Father's way of insuring that he gets as many people back as possible, because it is tough.

Even the most impatient parent who lets their children live deserves sainthood.

Even those of us who send kids to their rooms, not because they were doing anything bad, simply because we need a moment of quiet deserve sainthood!

Everyday that I'm around my children I deserve sainthood!

Mothers of boys DESERVE SAINTHOOD!!!

I'm pretty sure we are given this opportunity to make sure that no matter what else we do in life, the good outweighs the bad.

Everyday of parenting just gives me a small leg up on the bad things I've done. (Now for that bank I've been meaning to rob...)

Yay Procrastination!

2010-04-22T06:51:00.000-07:00

I didn't even bother to look at my homework until last night at about 9. When I did, what did I find?

Ooh I only have two major midterms, a major math assignment and 2 outlines all due today. The first test is my very first class, so I haven't even had time to study.

Awesome.

I'm so on top of things!!!!

Way to go me.

Sweet Justice

2010-04-08T06:50:00.001-07:00

A few nights ago, Kyle and I had a fight. Not an honest to goodness someone-is-wrong-someone-is-right kind off fight. It was just a stupid little thing. I wanted him to turn off all the lights in the house and get us a snack from the kitchen. He thought I should do it. (Not to try to sway anyone to my side here, but WHO is six months pregnant with a back that screams everytime I so much as laugh? Yeah, I thought so)

Anyway, we went on and on over who was gonna shut the house down before bed. I finally told him I was just not going to do it. Well, if you've ever used this kind of definite shut down, you know it doesn't go over very well. He decided a compromise would be best.

I thought his compromise was stupid, but workable.

The compromise was he would go downstairs, get the snack, and turn off all lower level lights. My job was to turn off the lights upstairs. The reason I thought this was silly was that he was going to pass right by my switches twice: once on the way down, once on the way back. But sometimes, you just have to do rediculous things.

Off Kyle tramps downstairs. Unhappily, I push my gigantic bum out of bed. I turn off the bathroom and hallway light. Kyle turns everything off downstairs and heads back up to bed. Well all the lights in the house are now off and he can't see a thing. He trips over a laundry basket and ends up hurt on the floor.

I, of course, good wife that I am, hold in my giggles till I'm sure he's okay. I even wait till he's in bed and has had a few minutes to recover. I ask, "is it okay to laugh yet?"

"Not yet."

I manage to hold it in for about another 30 seconds.

Not quite an I-told-you-so moment. I thought it was even better. It was instead sweet justice. Karma.

Whatever you call it. It made my night.

Texas Again

2010-03-28T19:04:00.001-07:00

UGH! Kyle left town again today. It blows. You know how sometimes you look forward to your spouse leaving if only because you can go to sleep at 7 PM and not feel guilty? Well, I thought maybe it would be a good time to catch up on sleep and laundry. He's been gone about 8 hours and I just want him to come home!! Because he's in Texas the latest we talk at night is 7 or 8. Then I have till I fall asleep to remember that I'm lonely and don't get to cuddle him. If ever you forget how much you love your spouse, just send them out of town. It will quickly remind you.

13

2010-03-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

Being pregnant for the third time is very different than being pregnant with a first or even second child. For one thing, I barely notice the weeks tick by. I know I am 22 weeks pregnant, or a nice round 5 months, but that doesn't really concern me a whole lot. Levi will come out when he's good and cooked. No, I don't count in weeks anymore... I count in pounds.
13 pounds so far.
There is a way to figure out if I'm on track or gaining too much weight. For the first 1-12 weeks you're supposed to gain between 0 and 5 pounds. Starting at 13 weeks you can gain a pound a week and still be optimistic. According to this I could be 14 pounds and still not call myself out of control. YAY!!!! 1 pound under is still a win!
Sure, I'm not the lightest pregnant woman on the face of the earth... I am on track to hit the top of the weight requirements. It's still an improvement! Having gained 40 pounds back to back for Adam and Caleb, I know I can safely go all the way up to 175 before adding tiger stripes to my already decorated hide. Mind you... I don't intend to get up there...
On a related note, I watched Kendra last night. She's one of Hugh Hefner's ex-girlfriends. She moved out, got her own show, got married and had a baby. Last night she was sad about her weight and got depressed about how much she is still carrying from her baby. She talked about wanting to be sexy for her husband and such. It was so sad! I'm not gonna lie, my face leaked just a wee bit. I know it's silly, but I totally feel her pain. Your spouse can tell you you're hot all they want... you've seen the changes, and they are not for the best! (small exception is the great baby feeders sprouting from your chest.)
I love my kids. And I love baby making. (Practicing, growing them, feeling them kick, the whole works!) But sometimes it's freaking hard! Why do I have to be ugly just to have a baby?!?!
I could deal with the big belly. But really now! The fat arms, the ankle-less legs, the teenager skin? Is ALL of it necessary?

Daylight Savings

2010-03-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

Daylight Savings is hard on a little dude. Great for parents... hard for kids. Our boys have been waking up consistently at 6:30 AM the past 2 or so weeks. Daylight Savings is gonna put them right and give me my extra sleep. Hooray!
This picture is after church yesterday. Caleb has a hard time on Sundays since church moved to 1. It is right during nap time. Occasionally he falls asleep in nursery, either on someone's lap or just on the floor.
After church, Adam came upstairs to watch TV with me and fell asleep in 2 minutes. I texted Kyle cause it was so rare that it made us laugh. He asked "Do you have Teens too?" (Caleb is teens BTW. Sort of an ironic ode to his cheeks.) I said, "No! I thought you had him!" This is how we found him. I honestly am not sure how he is balancing . He seems to be more off the chair than on it.

Taxes Part Deux

2010-03-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

So, I finally sat down to finish my taxes today. I had everything. Kyle had a few forms from work that took me a while to get my hands on and I had a form at my parent's house that I couldn't seem to remember to get whenever I was over there.
Here it was, all together, for my taxing delight (or misery) I sit down, put in all the information, and send it away to the evil minions of the IRS.
I call Kyle and tell him about our refund. He says "why did it go down? You had already entered the forms I sent you."
OOPS
From filing to amending in less than an hour... this is why I HATE taxes!

PICTURES!!!

2010-03-05T18:42:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't posted pictures in a long freaking time. This is today with their cousins at Wendys and Fairytale town.

They posted backwards. This is the end of the day. They are lined up so that I could put them in the car one at a time, in hopes of reducing the chance someone will become roadkill. It seems to work.
Adam and Andie were best friends for the first year of their life. Andie moved away, but it's never really changed their friendship when they are together. They walked around Fairytale Town holding hands almost the whole time. I told them to put their arms around each other for a picture. I thought it was kind of cute the way Andie did it.
...Until she was strangling Adam. =)
Peyton was also with us, but she was in line getting food at the time of this picture. This is almost all the cousins in my family. Eva wasn't able to come. Parker will be born in a matter of days and Levi (what we are naming our son) will be here in July.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Sorry I don't post them more often. I kind of like writing better. Plus my camera battery was dead and I'm lazy. These pictures are to prove that I am doing my resolutions. Fairytale Town is one big park. I rock.

Adam

2010-03-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought it could not get worse than your well going dry on the 4th of July!

Adam caught it. Whatever "it" is, "it" is ruining my life and my sheets! Adam hasn't kept any food down since lunch yesterday. I thought he'd already been sick. He had the runny nose crusty eyes thing. Apparently that was just the warm up act. *sigh*

I know this is sort of a downer to blog about, but it's consuming my life at the moment so it's this or nothing. =)

I'm sick of being sick!

2010-03-01T16:08:00.000-08:00

Thursday was the beginning. I found that if I thought about any single part of my body, it either hurt or didn't feel good. For instance: my throat hurt, my head hurt, I was nauseous (Stomach?), my back (tailbone area) was killing me... If I focused hard enough on my fingers I'm pretty sure I would have found something wrong with them. We have a girl's night type thing here at my house every Thursday. Well, it started as girl's night. Now it's girls-and-if-you-have-a-spouse-close-by-bring-him-on-in night. I started feeling so icky that I wanted people to go home. I NEVER want people to go home. I love having girls/whatever night at my house every week.
Friday I wasn't really better or worse. The day started off fine, but as my fatigue increased, so did my discomfort.
Saturday was awful. I haven't been sick enough to throw up in at least a month, so I was shocked to be this nauseous. First went the poptarts. Next the soup. Then cookies and milk (at 3 in the morning, I might add). Lastly, the water and clementine that I had tried to eat for breakfast on Sunday.
Sunday, as I already mentioned, lost my clementine. Needless to say, we did not make it to church.
The worst part of my personal sickness, was that Kyle was sick this whole time too! He got a flu that made his sinuses clog up so bad he could barely stand to move his head. So, besides not being able to take care of myself, he and I had to take turns trying to take care of each other. Saturday morning I got up and made him breakfast in bed and stayed up with the boys so he could sleep. Sunday I laid on the couch next to my poor baby the entire day while he took care of the boys and trying to feed me.
WHAT A NIGHTMARE! As a piece of advice to anyone out there who reads this: If you are planning on getting sick, make sure your spouse isn't going to be out of commission at the same time, particularly if you have kids. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

Why I love Boys

2010-02-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

#1. Boys have very high energy. I love watching them run and play. They are always up for a good time.
#2. is an extension of #1. Little boys bring out Kyle's inner child.
#3. Boys love their mommies and tell them they are beautiful.
#4. applies only to second and third children: I don't have to buy whole wardrobes of new clothes.
#5. I love fat boy baby legs in shorts. Girls just don't even come close to the edibleness of boy legs.
#6. Boy names are way easier to pick out.
#7. Boys need only 2 pairs of shoes. 1 for church, 1 for play.

I made this list in keeping with my resolutions. Yes, I had my ultrasound today and found out we are having another boy. I am happy he is a healthy sucker, but I am working a little bit on the being happy he is a "he" part.

REASONS I WANTED A GIRL
See above numbers 1, 2, 4, & 7.

On a slightly more upbeat note, how cool are ultrasounds?! Today I learned that my baby doesn't have Down Syndrome, doesn't have a cleft lip, and doesn't have a club foot. No ultrasound technician before has explained all the cool things they are looking for. They did move my due date back though. I think he's just small, like Adam, but my new due date is July 28th. Way out at the hottest fricken time of year. Hooray for babyhood.

Options

2010-02-23T17:24:00.000-08:00

I got my Anthropology Lab test back today. If you read farther down, you know all about the struggle I had with it. Well, I got a 50 out of 50. YAY! Perfect score right? Well, not quite. See, there were 55 points possible, 5 of which were extra credit points. So, am I happy that I got 100%? I'm not really sure.
I have two options. Be happy that I got a perfect score, (Which I would say is the one most people are hardwired to accept) or be unhappy that I missed 5 questions and would barely have gotten an A (as I am slightly inclined to do.). I think I'm inclined to be unhappy because of my genius, overachieving mom. If you read past posts you know all about her. She recently got a test back with 73 out of 75 right. She was mad that she missed 2. I laughed so hard at her. What a silly thing to be mad about. And here I go... Like mother, like daughter.
DANG IT! HOW IN THE FRICKEN WORLD OF DNA MRNA AND TRNA DID I MISS 5 POINTS?!?! I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN EVERY SINGLE QUESTION RIGHT! I KNEW THE ANSWERS! I SHOULD HAVE STUDIED HARDER!
Ugh. Well that's out of my system. Now I will have to accept that I'm not a perfect student. Maybe it will help to look at my email from my English teacher. He sent it out to everyone in the class. He put exerpts of essays he liked. There were only two. Mine was the first one. You win some, you slightly less win some, and then you lose.

Taxes

2010-02-22T14:34:00.000-08:00

Wow, do taxes blow or what?! I spent most of my Monday morning figuring out forms and credits and other tax crap. I'm still glad I do my taxes myself cause it saves me a lot of money, but really.... it is worth it? The headache I get every year courtesy of the IRS can hardly be worth the few bucks it would be to have a pro take on my paperwork. On the other hand... I do love watching that refund number go up or down as I enter things. I love the excited feeling of "OOOH What am I gonna do with that money!?" or "Oh crap, do I really have to enter that?" haha. Don't worry. I always do. I never lie on my taxes.
Well, the boys are up from their nap. Guess I can procrastinate finishing taxes for a while. (I have been desperately looking for some excuse, you know!)

Fat pants.

2010-02-20T16:23:00.000-08:00

UGH. Today I wore my biggest fat pants. It was the last time. It's time to tuck them away till July. I'm depressed.
Old Navy delivered with a pair of maternity jeans for $20. They aren't too bad. No giant blue panel, just a scrunched top. Like something your grandmother would wear. If I wear a long shirt you can't tell, except of course for when I sit down and they just don't stay up. Such is the curse of baby-making.
Even though you can't tell from the outside, I know. I know I'm wearing the pants of a fat girl. Not just because my belly is big, but because the first 8 or so pounds that I gain are subjected to gravity in a pretty terrible way. Those first 8 land right on my hips and gigantic butt. *sigh*
I know it will be worth it. I love my little babies and I wouldn't trade all the stretchmarks or skinny jeans in the world for them. But for now, while I can't see her (this is what I'm assuming until Wednesday, when hopefully I will find out) it's tough being happy cause all I can see is that I'm getting chubby!!! Maybe if she would move a little and let me know she's in there I could be a little happier about this whole thing.