Jane's Blessing

We blessed Jane Sunday June 6th, 2010 in Springville, Utah. The reason I put the date and where is because I am realizing the things I think I will never forget I actually do forget.

It was a very nice day and we were thrilled to have so much family come and support us. WE missed those that weren't with us but know they wished they could have been there :). Randall gave Jane a beautiful blessing. Somehow I always feel like the baby is officially part of our family once she has been given a name and a blessing. After sacrament meeting we invited our family over to our house for some lunch. Lucky us it was the hottest day of the year so far, so our plans of having everyone out on the patio did not workout so well, and are home is not large to say the least, but we made it work.

Jane wore the blessing dress that I bought when we were living in Belgium as my keepsake. Following tradition she was the 9th granddaughter to be blessed in the dress. It is so beautiful and long with all handmade Belgian lace and is very sentimental for me. I was only 14 at the time that we picked it out so it is amazing to think it has now been 17 years and we have now had 3 of our own daughters blessed in it. I think that is really special. I hope that the daughters in law don't feel bad that they basically had no choice in the matter of having their daughters blessed in the dress. I think it will always be a sweet remembrance of a very special day.

Start spreading the news

Just in case you haven't heard it through the grape vine, or on Facebook, we are moving. In fact the picture of Times square above is where Randall will be working for the next year or two or three, who knows. We do know that this is a great opportunity for not only him and his career but for our family. No, we will not be living in Manhattan, we're not that crazy, not to mention you have to be a kazillionaire to live there. Right now we are looking to live somewhere in New Jersey that is a close commute and a nice place to live.

I wish I could say it's all excitement, and there is a lot of that, but I'm nervous and down right scared at times wondering how things are going to work out exactly. If you know me much at all then you would know that I'm a planner. That means when something like this comes up I don't just think to myself, "how fun we are moving", instead my mind goes wild of every single minute detail like, are we going to rent or sell our home? Where are the best schools? Where is a nice, affordable neighborhood? I need vaccine records to register the kids for school. We should probably get our teeth cleaned here while we know a dentist. What should I get rid of? I need to get the carpets cleaned, how will we get the house rented? will my dental hygiene license transfer? Is there an Ikea?

Randall knows me well enough to know that after any big change or decision to just give me 24 hours to let the idea settle in and then I'm fine. This doesn't mean I'm freaking out and crying or anything I'm just saying I feel like my brain just might explode wondering and worrying about all the many changes and things now on my "To do list".

The older I get the more "comfortable" and "settled" I become. A few years ago I was chomping at the bit to move on to "our next adventure". Just the other day I was thinking how on July 24th it will be our 2 year anniversary of living in this home and the longest we have ever lived in one place. I wondered how long we would actual be in this home. Days later I got my answer of oh, 6 weeks or so.

You may be wondering how all this happened. Well, a few months ago Randall decided to interview for a new position at work. Throughout the long and exhausting weeks and 8, yes 8 interviews later( I guess they like to be thorough)he was not offered the position. Of course Rand was disappointed but through those weeks and that process we prayed that if it was right he would be offered the job. So when that wasn't the case we felt like there had to be a reason. It all becomes complicated after that so let's just say in just over a weeks time it was decided that Randall should transfer to the NY office, and strange enough we feel really good about it. The hardest part is that we will be leaving both of our families and some very good friends as well. That's no small thing. But, we feel right about it enough to still do it.

The good news in all of this besides the fact that this is a good thing for Randall, is that it will be a good thing for our little family. Utah is a great place and has many perks but we have lived in different states and places before and always had very positive experiences and met many friends that became our family. We are excited to have our children experience other cultures and religions as well as the history and culture of the East. I'm sure it will be hard and require some adjustment time but we are really looking forward to it. The great thing is we already have friends from grad school living in New Jersey, as well as Randall's sister and family in Baltimore(when they aren't researching in Africa :) and friends moving to Brooklyn this summer and friends and mission companions in D.C., North Carolina etc. Also, since New York is such a fun place to visit I actually think we will get a good amount of visitors coming for a free place to stay to see the city. So, if you are one of those don't hesitate, well at least wait until we know that we aren't in the Ghetto somewhere.

I wrote to a friend expressing my fear and concerns and this is what she wrote " I think it's those times that we have to really step into the dark that the Lord tries our faith. Sometimes, we are then given a flashlight, other times, I feel like we've stepped into the dark and are given a birthday candle. In other words, the bigger picture is still too far away to be seen..we may just get a faint glimpse, or wax on our fingers."

Let the adventure begin.

The end of an era

We took the family, the entire family for honestly the first time ever to the movies Saturday. Wow, it's expensive to take that many people to the movie, that's probably why we don't do it. Anyway, we saw Toy Story 3. We really liked it and the kids and babe did well. We bought one big popcorn and I brought little paper bowls so we could fill those up and share the loot. This movie made me think back to about 15 years ago when Randall and I sat in the theater as teenagers in high school watching the first Toy Story. How has time passed so quickly? How did I get so old? Who knew that the cute boy sitting next to me holding my hand would all these years later be my sweet husband and father to our four children. The ending was sweet and I accepted it. Somehow Toy Story brings feelings of nostalgia similar to feelings I get when I think about Disneyland, the happiest place on earth. Ethan has loved Toy Story since he was little. In fact when he was almost two he broke his leg and his prize for being brave was a buzz light year. Years later he had a Buzz light year that would spin circles on a string from the ceiling around the room. Even now at almost 8 he will stop at the toy story and oogle over the Toy Story action figures. After the movie the nostalgia ended and I was brought back to real life when Anna started bawling because she didn't get Jr. Mints.(That poor deprived girl :) Even more reason that we don't take our kids to the movies. At least it was good while it lasted.

Today

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday a good day, today...not so much. Maybe I'm just tired.
By 12 today:
-Anna stabbed Ethan in the chest with a sharp pencil making him bleed
-Ethan slapped Anna hard to get her back so she was screaming
-Bathed the girls while I cleaned the bathroom and they flooded the bathroom floor
-Kate played playdough in the living room while I was in the shower and got it in the carpet.
-Kate got into the blueberry yogurt and told the kids they could have yogurt too so blueberry yogurt all over the table, chair and floor.
-Went to start the laundry and found stinky laundry that had been forgotten...my favorite
-Kids went out in the back, back yard and I told Ethan to watch Kate and a while later there was a knock at the door and it was Kate. Ethan obviously hadn't watched her. I asked him why and he said someone was spraying him with a hose. We don't live in a normal neighborhood, we basically live in a parking lot so it's not safe for her to wander for various reasons obviously.
-Kate got two apples out of the fridge and ate 2 or 3 bites out of each of them
-Kate now has blueberry hair when she was just bathed
-neighborhood kids in my yard and house without me knowing how or even who they are!
-My kitchen still hasn't been cleaned from last night and now add all the mess of breakfast and kids 100 snacks without asking. I already had given them a snack at snack time by the way.
-called the glasses store today to follow up from yesterday to inquire about a part order over 2 months still hadn't done anything. Lady finally called me back and said it got lost and she would re order it and it would be here Friday. All this after calling 3 times going in twice and now it can be here in a matter of days? What's that about. I think someone dropped the ball there.

So nothing earth shattering, but my house is still a mess, I'm tired and Rand has been gone now almost 3 days and will be gone 4 next week. Can't wait.

Yesterday

Yesterday we had a good day. The other day without my knowing it, Ethan had prayed that I would "play with them all day". Something I admit that does not happen around here. I am not one of those mom's who gets down on the floor and "plays". I am happy to cook, bake, or do project but not much of a play dolls or trucks kind of mom. I wish I were but I'm not, there you have it. Ethan told me that I failed because I didn't play with them. So yesterday at breakfast Ethan again prayed that I would "play with them all day". Wow that's a lot of pressure. Thankfully I had a few things planned. First we had a yummy breakfast of pancakes with fresh blueberries. Then after we were all ready we went to the library to get new books and pick up the kids rewards for participating in the summer reading program so far. Then we played at the library playground until lunch time. After lunch my only real incident was when Kate came out of my room in full "makeup". She had found one of my plum lip-liners and basically colored in both of her eyebrows and lips. She was quite the site and admittedly I could help but laugh. I should have put her in time out after cleaning her up but it was nap time anyway so I just put her to bed. I read to the kids for 20 minutes or so from our new books and then let Ethan and Anna play wii and the computer so I could rest for a minute after feeding Jane. I read a little in some books I got at the library. After quiet time I gave the kids their surprise for the day. Since Randall has been gone I got them 2 little surprises to help them have good behavior and told them they could have it in the afternoon if they have been good. Yesterday's prize was a box of "Pop-its". We went out in the back yard and of course were done with their box in a matter of minutes but they loved it. After that I spent some time in the "adventure backyard". This is the big huge grass area just outside our back fence. I pitched to Ethan for awhile so he could practice his swing for his baseball games. For whatever reason his hitting and throwing have become worse since playing this last month, oh well. We did that for a while and then Ethan went to ride bikes with a friend and the girls and I made dough for home made pizza. The pizza turned out great and we made a fruit shake for dessert. After that I bathed the baby and put Kate down and then let Ethan and Anna watch the season premere of "Wipeout". Ethan loves that show and has been counting down the days for it to start. I think it's funny to watch but Ethan loves it and laughs and laughs. After that I put the older kids to bed and tried to read and get Jane down for the night. I read my book for a little bit and then went to bed.

I guess I passed the test though because even though the day was full of just little things that aren't all that exciting, at dinner Ethan was very excited that he had such a great day and said "I was the best mom ever!" I'm glad I was able to finally answer his prayer to play all day.

The only problem is Randall comes home from his business trip tonight and I still need to do all the laundry, clean our bathroom, mop the kitchen floor etc etc so that when he walks in the door he won't turn around and never want to come back to this messy house again. I'm just glad we had a good day.

Privacy, a thing of the past

I was thinking the other day, and often do for that matter, about how when I become a Mom, my privacy basically went out the window. Going to the potty Mom? Let's make it a party. Nursing the baby? Let's kiss her head constantly making Mom's personal space basically non existent, not to mention that I already have a human attached to my body for hours of the day. So you want to take a shower Mom? Why don't I join you?

You may be asking yourself why I don't lock the door for several of these aforementioned activities? Well, the truth is I do, but my children are the best of the best in picking locks with items like car keys, butter knives, sharp knives, coins, and whatever other door unlocking paraphernalia they can get their hands on. In fact you know those things you put over the door knob so it can't turn to keep those pesky children out? Well my kids have unlocked the secret to those as well. If you hit it just hard enough in just the right spot, or stick a knife in the crack of the contraption it pops right off. In fact, Kate who is not yet two, is probably the worst culprit. She must be the cleanest child around since she will have a bath and then after I have dressed, loitioned and coiffed her hair she promptly joins me in the shower just because she wants to. Oh, and she often tries to help me apply my lotion. Kate in fact has her clothes of probably 80% of the time. I admit I'm tired and don't care as much as I probably should. In fact we have nick named her the nudista. Hey, I figure it's less wash right?. I'm told that someday I will look back and miss the little things my kids did. But, if I'm honest I'm pretty sure this won't be one of them.

Summer time stuff

I'm happy to report that so far so good in regard to Summer break. I was really worried but we are doing well. In fact yesterday all 5 of us took a nap all at the same time! Can you believe it? The stars must have been aligned for such a miraculous thing to happen. I didn't sleep long but the others did and I was able to read a little and get some much needed laundry done. Laundry these days seems to always be needing to be done. If it's not clothes, it's sheets or towels. How really big families do it I don't know.

We have been staying busy making and baking. Swimming and lounging. We have been pretty low key and knock on wood so far I haven't heard "I'm bored" yet. Once a week or more I have Ethan help me by reading a recipe and then making whatever it is. So far he has made waffles, french toast and a lemon pound cake. It's pretty cute because it turn out he was feeling sad that the girls get to help me do things like that when he has been at school. So now he wants to be the only helper. He does a great job and I'm excited for him to learn some basic cooking skills. He now knows the difference between a teaspoon, tablespoon, cup etc. He really has fun doing it and I think it's great to have him helping. In fact the other night we had had a really long and stressful day and I was nursing Jane so I asked him to make French toast. He did it all by himself with me just directing him from the family room. The only hard part for him was that the bread was sometimes get too soggy and then when he would try to lift it to the pan it would all fall to pieces. He was sure that he was a "failure" but I showed him once or twice how to dip it, flip it and set it in the pan and he didn't have any more bread casualties after that. He was pretty proud of himself.

We also spend some time each week at the library so we can keep up on our reading for the summer. They have a fun kids reading program where they get rewards each week if they read the specified amount. It is our city days this week also so they had some fun activities at the library Monday that we participated in. There are other things this week including the carnival, which we will avoid at all costs this year. Carnivals are such dirty, expensive and interesting places. I think the grime outweighs the fun, and the weather doesn't seem to be overly cooperative.

In regard to the swimming that has been going on our neighborhood has created it's own "waterpark" where several of the mom's put pools and slip and slides out in the big common grassy area and then we all congregate to chat while the kids go crazy. Our kids love it and it wears them out and I get to chat with friends. It makes me a tad worried though having Jane out with me in the heat. How do you keep them protected from the sun and yet not overheated? I keep a sun hat on her and a light blanket but there is not a stitch of shade. We are going to try to have a cousin day where we meet at a pool once a week and swim and I think that would be a lot of fun.

Ethan has also started coach pitch and has games twice a week so that keep us busy at in additional to Randall and his scouting night and my Relief Society meetings.

Jane continues to be as sweet as ever. She rarely cries and we all adore her. Anna is still a great helper but has scared me a few time this week because I have caught her picking her up or carrying her around on her own, without asking. Maybe I'm paranoid and it's alright but I just so worry that the baby could be dropped or fall or something.

Last night after work I handed Jane to Rand so I could finish dinner. Randall looked at Jane and said "hi boo boo" which is one of Kate's many nicknames. Kate quickly and loudly exclaimed, "I'm Boo Boo!" She's right and I thought it was pretty cute. After that little incident she insisted that of us hold her "like a baby", which I was happy to do. I miss her being my baby at times.

Jane was also blessed last Sunday and it was a really special day. I have pictures and will write about that soon.

So all in all so far so good, just 10 more weeks to go!