Sleep deprived

Sleep training babies is the worst kind of self-inflicted mom torture I know. I'm trying to get Ayla to sleep by herself all night, which means when she wakes up she cries and cries until she cries herself back to sleep. It makes me feel like a horrible mother, but I have to train her for my own sanity later on. I don't want to have her waking up at night to eat anymore. She's seven months old, plenty old to be going 8 or 9 hours without food at night. Last night I was up with Ayla from 2-3am and 6-6:30am, with Gideon from 4-5am. Thanks to Brady I got 6 hours of sleep instead of four. He stayed up late to get the kids breakfast and has to leave for work again at 5pm tonight. It's going to be a long day for both of us. Honestly it's nights/days like this when I wish for all my kids to be 8 yrs or older. I feel like we are going to be in the baby/toddler stage forever.

Sometimes I wish I could work to have an opportunity for a break from the kids. It's REALLY hard being at home with them all day. Most of the time by 4 or 5pm my "mom batteries" are dying and I have difficulty being patient and kind with them. Gideon is at that particulary hard stage where he can't communicate very well, he wants to do EVERYTHING his brothers are doing, and he get's very frustrated when they are doing things other than playing with him. Christmas break is especially hard because they want to get all the movie watching and wii playing in they can since during the regular school week they don't get to do those things. They also recieved some Christmas presents that are absolutely not toddler friendly, so they can only play with them when Gideon is sleeping.

Next year isn't going to be any better since both Ayla and Gideon will be in that same developmental stage. I know my mom survived having three kids in 2.5 years, so I know I will survive too.....but that knowledge doesn't really make things easier. The days go by so long and slow, but when I sit down to think about it the months and years fly by. It's increasingly evident to me the longer we are married.

Lights parade

This is my kind of parade!!!

My camera stinks at night shots, especially with lighted, moving subjects....but you get the idea

 

The big trucks with lights were the highlight. All the kids loved them. We saw 3 marching bands - one of them was in the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in NYC last month, and another played in DC near the Whitehouse. A pony club came by and one of them got spooked so it was dragging the trap, taking the driver and her child for a wild ride right in front of us. I felt bad that the lady was so scared, and I'm happy that no one got hurt. I will admit it was interesting to watch though. We saw lots of cars and big semi's with awesome lights.

Evidence of Gideon's enthusiasm.

Ayla spent over half the parade asleep which was nice because although it was 48* outside, after dark it starts to get really cold when we just sit and do nothing. Special thanks to the Boyer's in our ward for lending me a winter snowsuit for Ayla. I need to get her one....or make her wear the 12 month boy one I have somewhere in the garage.

Celebrating 9 years!

We were so skinny young nine years ago today. Time sure has flown by!! In the last nine years we've moved seven times, lived in two states, had 8 jobs, given birth to four children, and each graduated from college. It seems like yesterday that Brady got home from his LDS mission in Switzerland and I was on my own in Pocatello, ID. Here's to 90 more years together (plus infinity)!!!

Goofy kids

She LOVES the jumper. This time she was jumping really high and vigorously.

"Oh, Daddy, you have something fun. Let me grab and check it out." She got ahold of his name badge and security tags, loving the retractable string.

She loves the floor, and the boys love playing with her on the floor too. Ammon got down and was talking to her which made her laugh.

The "fort". Made from EVERYTHING they could get their hands on. I think the backpacks were walls...the middle of the hallway is not a good choice for fort building space...in my opinion. But they had serious fun with this chaos. That's what counts.

Teething + getting mobile = chew on everything in sight. Even if that means to figure out a way to wiggle and squirm over to something so she can give it a good slobber. One bottom tooth has been through for a week and a half, and another is coming shortly. The booger meter has gone on overload today. Why teething creates massive snottage I will never know...but it does and it's gross.

Some firsts and baby stats

Ayla's first tooth appeared this weekend. (Now the buckets of dripping snot for the last two weeks are explained).
Ammon had his first major crash on his bike. His cheek got some serious road rash.
Ayla sat in a shopping cart by herself tonight at Costco - cushioned with a blanket and strapped in of course.

Ayla had a weight/height check today. She is 14 lbs 6 oz and 24.5 inches long. She's still shrimpy, but overall she's in the 50th percentile when compared with her progress so far. Tonight at Costco many, many people asked how old she was. When I said she was six months they were shocked because she is so small. What can I say? I just have petite ladies at my house :)

We went to Utah

Road trip to Lehi/Draper/SLC last weekend to see Wyatt -Ron and Christa's little dude- get blessed. Our first stop was a petting zoo in Scipio, UT. Although it was closed, we still got to walk around the front and view some of the animals. Zenock thought the poop stunk. We had icecream at Dairy Queen across the street. It was delicious :)

Nosy osterich

Zebra and really pretty breed of cow.

Tempanyaki dinner with Brady's family Saturday night.

Temple square in SLC Sunday night. The lights were beautiful.

Aaronic priesthood sculpture

Melchizedek priesthood sculpture

Assembly hall

Lifesize nativity. It was so beautiful

Christus at North visitor center

Visited my aunt who lives across the freeway from Ikea. Funnest store EVER!!! I see why so many people like it. Some of their prices are amazing. Scored some toddler dishes for the littler two for Christmas. We stayed with my cousin in South Jordan, UT at night and also visited with my only living Grandma. It was a little hard to split our time between three different families in two short days, but we did the best we could.

Favorite blankie got left in Lehi for the night. All was right once he got it back.

Cove Fort. This thing picks up bales of hay.

Blacksmith shop and oxen lift out back.

Cove Fort on the way home. It was a good place to strech our legs,

After the blessing we gathered at Brady's brother's house. We had a wonderful weekend.

A joke

I made up a joke today.
What does Gideon say after getting in trouble for playing with a Sharpie marker?

"Oh, dude!"

And now I have beautiful permenant drawings on the tile, my rug, Gideon's hands, and his mouth. This is what happens when I am trying to cook dinner.

Dang toddler

I started a couple of new Thanksgiving traditions this year. We had corn pudding for the second year in a row with dinner; it's so delicious I decided to make it every year. Another is to put up the Christmas tree in the evening and then watch The Christmas Story. I buy ornaments for the kids every year and one for us too. This year I found the "major award" from that movie as an ornament. Yes, we now have a leg lamp hanging on our tree. Our tree was up and decorated for almost 24 hours and then Gideon pulled it down. Two ornaments were shattered and 4 others were broken but repairable. One of the shattered ones was from when I was a kid and the other was Zenock's preschool ornament he made for us last year. A glass ball with his hand print on it. Each of the fingers had a face for each person in our family. I was bummed that one was a casualty. I have all the fragile ones at the top of our tree, but that's not floor proof when it gets knocked down.

Cute things from Ammon

Ammon is such a funny kid sometimes. Back story: a while ago Brady showed the boys how fun it was to mix treats in with popcorn like goldfish and fruit snacks. Somehow that translated in Ammon's brain to mean a popcorn treasure hunt. Tonight while watching Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer he asked for a treasure hunt. At first I had no clue what he was talking about so he had to explain it to me. He asked for some jolly ranchers in his popcorn, he even picked out the ones he wanted, and then he asked me to hide them in his bowl so he could find them while eating his popcorn. I tried SO HARD not to laugh. It's the cutest thing he's done in a while. I love my little boy. His joy for life is so wonderful. I love how he turns the simple things like a bowl of popcorn into something extraordinary.

Ayla playing

After watching her play with this lid, which she grabbed out of my hand, I think she's ready to play with teething and other baby toys. She sure has fun with anything within her reach...the hymnbook, paper, whatever the person holding her has nearby...everything. She's so cute! Watching her play with this particular lid reminds me of an octopus mouth.

Sewing the day away

I now know how my mom felt during the holiday season. Mom, I am truly sorry for interrupting you so much while you were sewing to get ready for Christmas.....I really am. My children have been my trial today as I tried to knock out some Christmas presents. It took me all day, I'm not kidding, to make 2 taggie toys for Ayla and a nephew. Oh. My. Holy. Toddler. Terror!!!!! Gideon almost cut his finger on my fabric scissors. He played with my pins by the handful and threw them on the floor. He took off my thread 3 times. He tore 6 ribbon spools apart so now I have a mess of ribbon in my box. What didn't he do to my stuff???? I guess I should admit I don't share my toys nicely with others....especially if they are under 3.....actually, 7 because many times Zenock was in the thick of my projects too. I did manage to finish the toys before bedtime, and after everyone went to bed and Brady went to work I cut out two more projects. I hope they turn out as good as I see them in my head. All four of these things are made thanks to pintrest inspiration, but without a pattern so it takes me a little longer to organize everything. I also started working on a Christmas decoration for myself made out of a dowel and burlap strips. Yes, I will have bragging pictures when I am all finished. Thanks for listening to me complain for a moment. You may now go back to your regularly scheduled lives.

Entertainment

Since school started poor Gideon is like a lost puppy when the boys are gone. I started walking with my friend 3 mornings a week about 2 months ago because she has the same problem with her daughter. This week she decided to be lame a good sister and attend her sisters wedding in Arizona. I've been trying hard to keep Gideon busy. Yesterday we went grocery shopping. Today I put in a construction vehicle movie that we've had since Zenock was a baby. Gid is in heaven!!!! He keeps pointing and shouting at the tv. He let me load the diswasher without help.....which I am thankful for since he "helped" the boys unload it this morning and shattered a big glass bowl I use all the time.

This is a fun game!

Shooting on the range

Top left is with my left arm extended all the way, shooting left-handed from one yard with ten rounds. Top right is my right arm extended all the way, shooting right-handed from one yard with ten rounds. Bottom left was with both hands on the pistol from five yeards away, with 35 rounds...I hit 16 inside the circle. Bottom right was from three yards away with both hands on the pistol and arms fully extended. I used 20 rounds and got 11 inside the circle. I still have much more practicing to do before qualifying for my ccw permit.
We had so much fun shooting this afternoon out in the desert. Brady's sister and her family came with us, our home teacher and his son, and another guy from church. Our older boys got to shoot the 22 rifle....heavily supervised of course. They loved shooting the bowling pin we used as a target. I did a lot of practicing for my ccw permit qualifications. I have to get 75% of my rounds inside the circle to pass the test, so I do have more work to do to meet that. I also tryed out my sister-in-law's Bersa Thunder, .380 caliber. I loved it!!! It shoots more controlled than Brady's Ruger LCP, so I can actually hit the target where I was aiming. I also shot a magazine of .223 on the Ruger Mini 14. Gosh I love that rifle! It packs a wallop, but with the stock style and just how the rifle is built it doesn't kick much at all. I hit a rock and broke it more than once. The light was fading so I could see the sparks when the rock was hit....Brady thought that was pretty awesome! I love sharing my husband's hobby! We have such a good time on the range together, and the kids like it too. I can't wait to be an even better markswoman ;). 

Killing with kindness

Today in Relief Society we had a lesson about showing kindness and patience to others. Imagine that! Mother's and women need to be reminded how important it is to be kind and patient with others.....hmmmm......we must have so many responsibilities in life with children, husbands, extended family, jobs, household duties, etc that we tend to forget to relax and act more Christ-like toward others. There was a healthy discussion throughout the class about things that prohibit us from acting more like our Savior. We talked about making effort to serve our family and friends who have wronged us in order to learn to love them. Many sisters gave examples of hard times with others and how they overcame difficulties with said person. We were also reminded to accept compliments graciously when they are given to us.  This is something I have difficulty with on occasion....as do many men and women. At the end of our lesson the teacher asked us to turn to the person next to us and give a sincere compliment. The wonderful friend I sat next to reminded me about when we first met. She said how thankful she was that I was so friendly to her when we first met in the spring of 2011. She had just moved into the ward and came to the park nearby our homes with her kids. She told me that she remembered how I saw them and immediately sat down by them and started introducing myself and getting to know them. She told me how funny it was that one of the ladies there didn't have any kids so I said something like, "Oh, you don't have kids? Well here's my baby....hold him for me." Which she did the whole time we were at the park. She said she loved how warm and welcoming I was to her and her friends who had just moved into the area.

That said, for those who know me....you should know I am EXTREMELY shy. I am so shy I don't like calling people on the phone unless it's my family, I have trouble wanting to comment in classes, at church activities I often have trouble starting a conversation or including myself in a conversation with those around me. So for me to immediately sit down and get to know someone I just met is very difficult. My sweet husband has helped me immensely with this over the years because he is so friendly to everyone. I just wanted to write this down for me to remember later....I am trying, have been trying for a long time, to not be so shy. I have been making a conscious effort to make more friends - and quickly - when we moved to Nevada, because I was so far out of my comfort zone. Apparently, my efforts have not been in vain. I'm just happy that we're here, because the LORD needs us here. And making friends along the way makes life easier, both now and in the long run.

Ammon's baptism

It's unbelievable sometimes to realize Brady and I have a child old enough to get baptized!

This weekend we were able to have family visit from Utah and Idaho for this special event. Although Ammon had the flu a few hours before he was baptized, he still had a shining glow of happiness about him. The program was as follows:
Brother Rose, the first counselor in our Bishopric, conducted
Uncle Ronny said the opening prayer
Aunt Kalina gave a talk on Baptism
Ammon, Zenock, and Brady sang When I am Baptized accompanied by our friend, Jason Hafen
Brady's Mom gave a talk on the Holy Ghost
Ammon was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Brady
Uncle Kahel said the closing prayer

We had a blast playing with cousins and eating icecream afterwards at Brady's mom's house. My parents came with my brother and sister. They went to both boys' last soccer games of the season earlier in the day. Ammon wasn't feeling well during his game, and ended up being sick a little later in the afternoon. He was worried about having to cancel the baptism because he didn't want to be sick while in the font with Daddy. After a nap on his brother's bed, he felt somewhat better, and after the program was over he acted like his usual self. I sure love my oldest boy so much!

I am very proud of him for being such a great kid. His thirst for knowledge is amazing. We often have discussions about gospel principles as we read the scriptures, he asks questions all day long about everything....he just always wants to know what is going on and why. Before he was interviewed for his baptism, he was asking me about what a testimony is and how he gets one of his own. As a kid myself I didn't have such a desire to know things like this, that I remember. I don't remember learning truely about what a testimony until I was 12 or older. Both Brady and I have had many teaching moments such as this with the boys in recent months. I hope he keeps asking questions and having a strong desire to learn as he grows older. I think this quality will help him as he progresses in life with high school experiences, church callings, work opportunities....everything.

Time change stinks

This daylight savings time change really stinks when I have kids. At 6:35 this morning Gideon slammed my door open, played with the phone, got into his brother's halloween candy, and woke everyone up except Brady. How he can sleep with all the rukus is beyond me. I was feeding Ayla when he came in, and I was hoping she was almost done so I could lay her back down......but thanks to Gideon she's wide awake too. I miss my sleep so much. I fell asleep around 10:30 last night. Ayla was up at 11:30pm, 2am, 5am, and 6am. I am REALLY ready for her to go back to sleeping 8 hours again. What happened to that? She was doing soooo good from about 2 to 3 months old. What's up with this newborn-like nighttime feeding? I had to sleep train Gideon when he was 9 months, and I am really hoping Ayla just does it herself. However, I don't think that's going to happen.

Some space

Tonight as I peruse pinterest I wish I had a craft room....a place to go after the kids go to bed and husband goes to work. A place where I feel like I won't bother sleeping little people, so I can let all those ideas floating around in my brain all day come out and play. I need a space to complete the christmas projects still undone in my craft closet. I need a place to store paint.......a place up very very high......a place where neither Zenock nor Gideon can reach.....somewhere other than right in front of the other craft stuff I often need to get out to use. So here I am sitting on the couch wishing for the ability to productively fill my time instead of being on the computer as the children sleep. I can't sew when they are awake.....I can't sew when they are asleep. I just can't win these days.

6 year old tantrums

This is my rant instead of yelling at my kid. Zenock is having real trouble eating in a timely manner......like I'm talking taking over an hour to eat homemade chicken nuggets and corn. We have started setting the timer for 10-15 minutes and when it goes off eating time is finished and remaining food gets thrown away. If he doesn't finish his food he doesn't get snacks or treats and has to wait until the next meal to eat. Today he ate the chips (my mistake for actually giving them to him with a meal instead of after), oranges, and one fish stick....the other 4 got thrown away. He was so mad at me because he wasn't done. Rules are rules!! This happened almost two hours ago and he's still mad at me. This is what he just told me:
"The only thing that will calm me down is you buying me a toy. That's the only thing." In your dreams buddy. Boys who have tantrums and don't do what Mom says don't get fun things........and like I would buy him a toy anyway. He just had a birthday for crying out loud. Between his food attitude and Gideon's toddler pickiness Brady and I are just about at our whits end with mealtime around here. We can't have hotdogs, macaroni and cheese, or pizza for every dang meal. Life doesn't work that way, here at home or anywhere else either.

Birthday Bash

The kids had a joint party at the park this year in between their birthdays. We had a halloween carnival. Everyone came in their costumes and we played 5 games. Haunted house marble racing, duck hunting, pumpkin bowling, eyeball racing, and cauldron toss. Thankfully I convinced three other mom's and my husband to help me with each of the games! The treats were juice boxes, green rice crispy treats, and carmel apple slices. The party was a big hit....and I am one tired mom! Next year I think we will just have one friend come over for the afternoon on their special day and call it good. This all out party thing is too much work!!!

Ammon's gang: Alex, Angie, Ammon, Lacey, Elijah

Zenock's crowd: Trevor, Kimball, Gideon, Jack, Zenock, Isaiah, Lexi

Ammon's loot with his friend Alex

Zenock's loot with his friend Alex

New bed

Gideon upgraded to a toddler bed last night. Ayla in FINALLY out of the tiny bassinet and in a regular crib. I predict she doesn't take long to go from one end to the other at night. I also predict Gideon falls out of bed alot the first week.....so far so good. My kiddos are so cute when they sleep!

Trunk or Treat

Brady REALLY wants to do a family costume every year for Halloween and I just don't ever get around to it.....until this year. He LOVES zombies - it must be a man thing - but the kids didn't want to be zombies......so we compromised and did the Plants vs. Zombies video game. Ayla was "eating" her way out of my tummy - such a cute baby zombie. Gideon was the sunshine token the player earns as zombies are killed - his sunshine was taped to the back of his shirt so he wouldn't rip it off. Zenock was the green pea shooter plant. Ammon was the blue pea shooter plant. Brady was the daddy zombie. We had such a good time. I really enjoyed doing the latex makeup for the zombie effect. It made me miss my theater makeup class at ISU back in the day. We opened one of our van doors and made a Frankenstein head for it. The other side was black and said BOO and a ghost spray painted in white. We has some glowy balloons taped to the antenna. It was so awesome!! I am really happy I got on the ball this year and actually made the effort to do a family theme complete with vehicle decoration.

This was at our church parking lot tonight for the trunk or treat tradition. We had chili and cornbread in the parking lot. Carnival games were set up in the center of the lot and all the cars parked around the perimeter. It was so awesome, and we could not have had better weather. There was no breeze, and the temps were in the low 80's today so it made the evening wonderfully pleasant.

Zenock the green pea shooter

Best looking zombie couple in the world.

8 is great!

Singing the Happy birthday song

Opening his double barrel nerf shotgun....he's been wanting this thing for over a year now.

Gideon loved Ammon's card from my family because it sang a song. He kept opening and closing it to make it sing again.

Lego Ninjago icecream cake. It's supposed to be the black ninja, but I just really suck a getting food coloring to do black. It always comes out purple. Thank you Sam for letting me borrow your cake decorating tips!!!!

The birthday loot: nerf shotgun from siblings, scriptures and case from us, plants vs zombies and lego ninjago ds games from Brady's parents, two different nerf guns and extra darts from Brady's sister's family, and the totally awesome cub scout uniform from my parents - he can't wait to go to scouts next week!

This picture belongs at the beginning. We surprised him with chocolate chip cookies - Ammon's favorite - for his class on his birthday. He insisted he get a picture with his two cute friends, Angie and Kaylie.