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.