Living with Half a Brain-Maybe Less

I don't know how other moms feel but I think I'm losing my mind. Not necessarily my sanity although there is some of that but my intelligence. I seriously cannot remember things from one second to the next. I can barely form complete sentences. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to retype that last sentence. Some things I have to do don't require too much brain power...luckily. Like dishes or sweeping the floor. But other things turn out to be a real challenge. Making sure all four kids have shoes on or have eaten lunch. I'm okay if they are all right there but if one leaves the room.... I have been known to leave the house with snacks but forget Penny's pants. True story. The really bad part is when I have to do things like teach in Relief Society. I'll get half way through a thought and forget the ending. I'm going to have to start writing my lessons out like a talk. And heaven forbid someone should get me off track. Luckily the sisters are patient with me. I love Relief Society but I really think I should not be the one doing most of the talking. Please tell me I'll get my brain back after a while and won't be working on half capacity for the rest of my life.

Penny's Photo Update

Penny and Eleanor about a year ago.

Trying on the frog costume.

She has such a funny face.


Gotta love this crazy hair!

A couple of weeks ago. She's going into the nursery this month. A year makes a lot of difference at this age doesn't it?

Peter's Photo Update

I love the face Peter is making in this picture.

This picture was taken sometime last year. Summer of 2009? I was trying to get some pictures of the kids for Jeff's desk. This picture didn't make the cut mostly because I needed more people in each picture. The pink background is his favorite blanket. We got it when Eleanor was born and the boys have both loved it. Peter is a very cheerful little guy and lots of fun.

This is Halloween. He is supposed to be Indiana Jones.

Peter loves the park, any park, to distraction. This is at the park in our neighborhood.

Peter is almost 3. He's getting so big. He can do practically everything and is very smart and athletic. He loves to run and jump and climb on everything just like every kid his age. His favorite book is "Are You My Mother?" He can pretty much read the whole thing himself. Well, not read but quote. He has it memorized almost word for word. It's so cute to hear him, "I did have a mother. I know I did. I will find my mother. I will. I will!" He's so emphatic on those "I will's." We love having him in our family.

Sam's Photo Update

Sam on the first day of school. This must be after school because he has that sticker on. He did very well in first grade. But we knew he would.



Sam took karate for a couple of months. He tested for and received two stripes on his belt so far. Yellow and orange. He may or may not do some more karate. He's interested in trying gymnastics out as well.

The kid in the middle is Jadon. He lives next door. He and Sam play together a lot which is great. Plus, Penny loves him. He's always picking her up and carrying her around. Sam and Jadon ride bikes and tie things up and sometimes they even play with Eleanor. I'm glad there are a few kids in the neighborhood to play with.


Sam was a Jedi for Halloween. Sam enjoys all things Star Wars. (I made the black robe and Jeff made the lightsaber. We're awesome. We're not very good with Halloween costumes so this was a big deal for us even though it is very simple. )

Here is Sam at the zoo today. If he was smiling bigger you might be able to see where he's lost a tooth. His second. No, third. He'll be seven years old in about 2 months. He's been a very good helper so far this summer. He's enjoying swimming lessons and has already completed the summer reading program. Way to go, Sam!

Eleanor's Photo Update

It's been a busy year for Eleanor. She started preschool in the fall. She was a role model in a class of autistic kids. She did very well. Unfortunately, it only lasted until Christmas. So then we found some other things to do. Here she is on the first day of school. Oooh, she's sooo little!


This is the picture we used to make the job chart. She's such a great kid.


Eleanor has fun being a big sister.


She really enjoys posing for the camera. Luckily she is very photogenic. She's looking forward to starting kindergarten in the fall. In just four more weeks she will be five. I can't believe it.

Where Have All the Butterfinger BB's Gone?

Okay, I have a little complaint. I went to the store the other day for candy. Specifically Butterfinger BB's. Those things are awesome and I really needed some chocolate therapy. They were nowhere to be found. I was a little upset. I hope that the lack of Butterfinger BB's was an error or a locale thing and that they have not been discontinued. Sometimes it seems like all the things I like are discontinued. Okay, so far just Edy's Toffee Crunch ice cream and possibly Butterfinger BB's but these are the things that need to last. They are therapy people! Why would you discontinue the best flavor of ice cream on the planet?! I even checked out the Edy's website just to see and it was nowhere to be found. Man, I miss that ice cream. On the plus side there is no reason to cheat on my diet...if I were on a diet. I guess now I need to google Butterfinger BB's and see what happened to them. I think I'll do that now...

Motherhood is Sometimes Not Great

So the other day I was talking to a friend about motherhood. One thing about motherhood is that you don't realize how horrible it is until it's too late. But I think horrible maybe isn't the right word. Maybe difficult is a better word. This is the hardest job I've ever had. Don't get me wrong I love it. My kids are awesome. They are fun and smart and interesting but that doesn't make this job a piece of cake. Right now they are so little it's more physically taxing than anything else. I don't get much sleep first of all. Sometimes staying up late is the only quiet time I get and when I want to go to bed early no one else will cooperate. I can only read about 1 and a half books to my kids before I'm falling asleep. However, my children are very patient and they just nudge me or call my name until we finish the book. Luckily, the rewards of parenting are enough to overshadow the other stuff. It doesn't seem like they would be when you look at the list. What do we have? Satisfaction, fulfillment, happiness, laughter, learning. They are so intangible. The negatives can really pile up if you let them. No sleep, never going to the bathroom alone or eating your own food, sharing the computer or xbox, neverending dishes and laundry. None of my pencils have erasers. Then there's the really bad stuff like finding out your child has a birth defect or some other serious problem. But you just have to let some stuff go and remember that someday they will be teenagers and it will be even worse.

Sam and Eleanor played together so well on Sunday. For hours. I loved it. Peter is saying new stuff every day. On Sunday he wanted to look at the Sacrament book (it has pictures of Jesus). So all during the Sacrament prayer he was yelling, "I want Jesus. I want Jesus. Hey, give my Jesus!" It was so funny. Not very reverent but funny. Penny does the commando crawl and can go almost anywhere. She's also been making a new face where she pushes her teeth together and pushes out her lips. I'll have to take a picture. Actually she doesn't have top teeth so it's just her bottom teeth and gums that go together but she might be getting a top tooth. It seems like it's been pretending to come in for a while now. Somehow all these things make the lack of sleep and fights over chores seem insignificant. These little children that are in my care, that I have stewardship over are such wonderful little people. I'm so glad they are in my family. So, even though some days are unbelievably challenging and, dare I say it, horrible, they are somehow wonderful at the same time. I think it's one of the mysteries of God.

This Post Doesn't Exist

Sam has been doing this...thing...lately where he insists that stuff doesn't exist. He thinks that times like 12:12 and 11:11 don't exist and when they come up he always groans, "Oh no! Not 12:12!" The other day we were teasing the kids about getting moldy bread for a bedtime snack and apparently they didn't know what moldy bread is because Sam told us moldy bread doesn't exist while Eleanor started insisting that she wanted moldy bread for her snack. Don't worry they didn't get any moldy bread. We were all out. Plus, it doesn't exist.

Say No to Housework

Sometimes I think I ought to do more housework than I do. However, recent events have lead me to reevaluate. My housework seems to be cursed. It may be cursed for all parents of small children, I'm not sure, however it certainly is cursed for me. Whenever I find the time to do a little work like the dishes or folding the clothes or making the beds something happens. The most recent incident was during the dishes. I'm nearly done with the dishes when Sam calls me downstairs because Peter is getting into trouble. What do I find? Eleanor styling Penny's hair with Orajel. Other incidents include Peter drinking the sugar and Eleanor lotioning up with body wash. Isn't it fun how kids find work for you to do while you are working?

Eleanor Sings

This was so cute I have to share it. I was driving somewhere and Eleanor was with me. She was singing the ABC song and making up her own words. Suddenly she yells, "Spanish!" and starts singing in "Spanish." I think there was even one real Spanish word in there. Then she yelled, "Family!" and started singing all the names in the family. She included "mom" and "Suzie" and even Evelyn (my brother Ben's oldest for any who don't know.)

Lessons I've Learned from My Children: #1 Embarrassment is No Longer a Feeling It's a Way of Life.

I always wondered what was up with parents. Why aren't they embarrassed by anything? They can do the dorkiest stuff and not care at all. Now I know why. Children. They root that embarrassment stuff right out of you. They teach you how to suck it up. Of course, then they grow up and are embarrassed for you.

I have always loved the library. One of the first things Jeff and I did when we moved here was to get library cards. Well, when I first started bringing the kids to the library...it was kind of a disaster. They didn't tear any books or scream their heads off (although that's been known to happen since then) but it was kind of embarrassing for me. Our main branch has a stage kind of area where they do nursery rhyme time with the kids. Well, the steps are hollow and when kids run on them the people in the conference room and offices next door can hear it quite well. So of course every time we went to the library the kids would run on the steps and we would get in trouble. (What are these people thinking putting the Children's Room next to the conference room? I know it's a library but, hello, it's the Children's Room.) It was seven or eight trips to the library before the kids finally figured out that they needed to walk quietly on the steps or not at all. It was embarrassing to me to get scolded by the librarian every time we went to the library. Then while I was trying to help one child be quiet the other would go running out of the room and try to get on the elevator. Also, I forgot to mention, Sam was getting potty trained. I think he only had one accident at the library but that was enough. Surprisingly, they had nothing to clean with and had to call someone up to the Children's Room. You would think they would have a bottle of carpet cleaner behind the desk or something. Again, it is the Children's Room. Despite all of this we continued to go to the library. What was I going to do? Not go? Don't be ridiculous. Sam and Eleanor are usually pretty good now but Peter is still learning how to behave in the library. Luckily I no longer care what anyone thinks of us. We are doing our best and that's what matters.


On our way in to the library.



Peter using the computer in the Children's Room.

Penny is 3 months old today!

Three-Year-Olds

Three-year-olds are stubborn, opinionated, bossy, independent, precocious, intelligent, curious, affectionate, imaginative, and fun. I have a three-year-old. She's very good at it. She can keep up a good cry continuously. She says, "I'm not bossy! Now, come on!" Eleanor can do many things for herself most of the time. Every once in a while though..."Mom, I can't go downstairs it's dark down there." This most recent bout with fear of the dark went like this...Eleanor couldn't go downstairs because it was dark. So, I went to help her only to discover that the light for the stairs was on (which means it's not dark where the light switches are to the downstairs living room) and when I went downstairs the lights in the living room were already on--just not by the computer. It was totally light down there!

Eleanor loves to play family. She is the mom and Aunt Sarah is the daughter. However, Eleanor is not just any mom and she's not herself grown up. She's me. She makes everyone call her "Suzie" and we have to call Sarah "Eleanor." She insists. This is very confusing for me. I keep hearing my name but when I respond I find no one was talking to me. Except Sam. He refuses to call Eleanor "Suzie." He will not do it.

My three-year-old is very loving and affectionate. She loves to hug and kiss everyone...except Peter. He tries to give her a hug and kiss good night and she runs away. With everyone else however it's kisses galore. She's practically making out with us all the time. It's sweet and annoying. We try to help her keep her affectionate nature within the bounds of propriety.

There are many funny stories to tell about Eleanor but I have to wrap this up because my three-month-old is crying her head off. And I still have plenty of work to do to get ready for Sunday. Until next time...

Stages 2

Peter is at a great stage too. He is starting to learn actual words. He always talked quite a bit but all nonsense. Now he says 'mommy' for just about everything but he's starting to learn a few other words (gotcha and daddy so far). He mostly does sounds. He is a fantastic growler. He knows what cows say but it sounds more like 'beeee' than 'mooo'. I don't know what that's about but it's cute. He also does 'uh uh' and 'mmmm'. He's very independent but it mostly gets him into trouble right now. He tries to get drinks from the water dispenser on the fridge and almost always gets soaked. He can fill up the cup but when he tries to bring it back down he tips it and gets all wet...or he tries to fill up something that has a lid on it. He's smart but he is only 1 and a 1/2. Peter does a lot of screaming. Mostly to be silly. He and the other kids will run up and down the hall and scream. He also loves books. He brings us books all the time to look at with him. He doesn't have the patience to sit through an actual story however so we usually read one sentence or less and then turn the page. Jeff and I are pretty bored with his favorite books but we don't want to discourage him so we read them anyway.

Stages

I love the stage that Penny is at. You know, the one where she can't do anything. I don't have to worry that she'll fall off the bed or down the stairs or stick her finger in an outlet. Not like the other kids. (Although, I do have to protect her from being carried around upside down by Peter--true story.) Actually, I love all the baby stages. When they can roll over onto their stomach and they are so proud of themselves and they do it over and over again. Only you have to keep coming and turning them back over because they get stuck on their stomach with their face in the floor and then they cry. But this beginning stage is so cute. Penny is like a little sack of potatoes only not so lumpy. She's also like a bobble head. She likes to try to lift her head and look around but her head is wobbling all over the place. I try to support her head but it's hard when she's so determined to look around and it is bobbling around so much.

Happy One Month Birthday, Penny!

Penny just passed her one month birthday on Thursday. She stayed awake most of the day and has been staying awake during the day ever since. She slept all day for her first month and her awake time was usually around 2 or 3 am to 7 or 8 am. It's so funny how abrupt the change was. She already looks different. She's bigger and more alert. I think she's even about to grow out of something. Sometimes it seems sad how fast they grow up but I am not going to miss this last month--what I can remember of it.

Bad Book Review

So, I read this really terrible book recently. It was really bad. As in stupid. But I read the whole thing. Maybe I shouldn't admit that. But I had to find out what happened to the one nice girl. The book was called "Dangerous Kiss" by Jackie Collins. First of all there was no dangerous kiss. There was a little kissing but nothing that would elicit such a title. Secondly, all the characters were beautiful people. Jackie Collins describes everyone in the most glowing and complimentary terms...even the ugly people were paragons of beauty. The book is about rich, powerful, famous people in Hollywood so of course there are a lot of good looking people but come on. Thirdly, almost everyone is bad. Actually, a lot of them are currently happily (and faithfully) married but had plenty of "fun" with drugs, sex, and rock'n'roll, or whatever, before. The main character is this beautiful (of course), powerful, independent woman. She and her husband are supposedly happily married and deeply in love but she makes a life changing decision without him and he is understandably upset and she yells at him for trying to control her. She slept with her best friend because she thought her husband was dead and then when he came back-alive-she didn't confess because she thought he was dead so it's okay, right? Which takes us to number four: ridiculous plot lines. The nice girl in the book decides to get revenge on a guy (date rape) and he manages to knock her out, kidnap her, get her hooked on heroin and marry her. He does all of this because she is going to inherit a huge fortune when she turns 35. The point of all of this is don't read Jackie Collins books. They are stupid.

Pictures of Baby

Okay, now that the baby is 3 1/2 weeks old I can post some pictures. Hopefully I won't fall asleep while I'm working on this. I fall asleep almost every time I sit down. It makes it hard to read a whole story to the kids. Okay here are some pictures of Penny. Most of them were taken today.



This one is weird because she looks like a doll.

New Baby!

Well, we are now 6. Penelope Jane Harrison was born on December 29th at 7:35 am. She was 2 weeks early (scheduled induction) but still managed to be 8 lbs and 20 inches long. I can't imagine how big she would have been if we had waited 2 more weeks! The doctor thought it would be better to have her a little early so we could avoid shoulder dystotia (sp?) which is when the babies shoulder gets stuck under the pubic bone and the baby can break her collar bone or have permanent nerve damage. We didn't want that so I had an amniocentesis on Tuesday to make sure her lungs were developed enough and they were fine so we went in on Sunday evening and she was born Monday morning. Luckily she was a girl because that the only name we had and that wasn't even set. Eleanor calls her Penny-Dora. She wanted us to name her Dora if she was a girl and Boots if the baby was a boy. Sarah got her to agree to only name the baby Boots if it was monkey so that was good. We are thrilled to have her in our family and now I have to go take care of her....

Pictures will be added soon. To see pictures now go to Janis' blog. You'll find the link on the side bar.

VP

I was thinking recently that John McCain can't possibly win this election...unless, maybe, he chooses a woman for his running mate. I know a lot of people say that it's just a trick to pull in the female vote, trying to get the Hillary supporters that haven't decided to support Obama yet. But, I don't care. I think it's brilliant. I haven't really decided who to vote for yet but this makes McCain's position a little stronger for me. Besides, even if he is just trying to get more votes it's not like he can change his mind once he's president. If he wins she's the vice president and that's that. And I think the argument that she, or Obama for that matter, doesn't have enough experience is a weak one at best. Often a 'lack of experience' means a person can look at problems from different angles that people with a lot of experience can't or don't because that's 'not the way it's done.' Oooh, and I think I'm one of these 'swing voters' that I keep hearing about on the radio. I could go either way, really.

But I just read this book, "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and some other guy...Oliver Relin...about a guy (Greg Mortenson) who builds schools in Pakistan. It's really good. I totally recommend it. But the point is that it's made me think about the Middle East and how each candidate plans to handle humanitarian aid and post war (or mid-war, whatever) relief for the people in that region. I care about their positions on the war itself but...this may be more important. Anyway, it's a good book and it makes you think. I told Sam the story a little and he thought it was interesting and it gave me a good way to explain about how there are good people all over the world and not all Muslims are terrorists and how important education is.