Crying Contest

Today I took Jayson & James to the pediatrician. Jayson had his 2 month check up. He's 12 lbs. 10 oz. & 22 inches long. He was due to have 3 injections & 1 oral vaccine - poor baby.

James had his 9 year well child check. I didn't think he needed any shots, so I was accused of lying when the nurse asked to finger prick him. She was checking his iron levels. James also got to have an eye & ear screening. He thought it was weird when he was asked to pee in a cup. But when he overheard the doctor and I talking about a booster to the chicken pox vaccine, he lost it. He kept whining that he'd rather get chicken pox than get a shot. He got all worked up and the water works started.

I can empathize with James. I don't have a great history with getting shots myself. One of my earliest childhood memories was before I started kindergarten. I had the sense that something was up, but my mom wouldn't tell me where we were going. When we arrived at my doctor's office, I figured out that I was getting shots. My mom had to drag me by the arm. I was screaming and resisting with all my strength. I hate doctor's office enough, but I especially hate needles. After my shots, I got to go to the pharmacy and buy Nibs licorice candies.

Well, as we waiting for the nurse to come back to administer the injections, James was crying. Then Jayson realized that he wanted to nurse more, so he started crying. I said we should have a contest. Turns out that James cried longer, but Jayson screamed louder. James cried in anticipation and emotional drama. Jayson cried when he was poked and then quickly calmed down to drink his milk.

Tub Deja Vu

Jayson does look a lot like Jacob. I think that all my kids look like they come from a specialty Jon/Jennifer mold - each with a slight variation. James had the toehead blond curls and chub all over. Jacob had the unforgettable rosy cheeks and sweetheart lips. Jessica had dark curls and the sweetheart lips. Jayson came as one of our typical chubby cheeked babies with sweetheart lips and flaming red hair to top it off.

The photo above is Jacob. You can tell it's him because he had the umbilical hernia. When he'd have a screaming fit, that belly button would grow like Pinocchio's nose.
The above picture is Jacob again around 5 months.
This last picture is Jayson at about 6 weeks. He is getting a Budda belly, but not as fast as his siblings did.

Grade A

Here's a copy of the grading sheet used for the 3rd Grade Puppet Book Report.
If you click it, you can see it larger.

Swaddle My Baby

Jayson - 7 1/2 weeks old. I was trying to get sleeping pictures in his new blanket with the black fabric I got for a background. He kept peeking.

Tub Time

Experts say that 2-3 baths are sufficient for young infants. Their skin is sensitive and they don't get very dirty, so this should be enough. Oops! My baby is getting 1 or two baths a week. I know I'm not getting tub pictures because I usually wait until evening after the dishes are done. But I tried to get him in the tub when the sun was coming through the kitchen window. It's like a 2fer. He gets a water bath AND a sun bath.

Doesn't he look so much like our Jacob?!

Puppet Project

James had a book report due last Friday. James read a book - no problem. It's all the STUFF that the 3rd Grade teachers ask them to do additionally that IS the problem. On the way home from school, James could sense that he was headed to frustration. It was time to make a puppet based on a main character from his book. James doesn't enjoy crafting (unlike other members of our family). James is all about speed which means that glue gets globby and cutting isn't precise. Did I mention that Jon was out of town and it was my responsibility to see that the project got done. I told James that we needed to complete the assignment, but it didn't need to be the best one in the class. If fact, he had my permission to have the dumbest puppet in the whole 3rd grade.

I had help with the baby, so my hands were free. James & I had "help" from Jacob & Jessica who LOVE crafting. Jacob (who was grounded because he refuses to complete his reading assignments) couldn't keep his eyes off the puppet. The coiled shoes were his idea. Jessica was so excited that we were making puppets. She gathered supplies from the garage to help her make a princess puppet (with no help from any of us I might add).

First we tried drilling a hole into a tennis ball for the head. IMPOSSIBLE. Jon showed me later that I didn't have the drill bit on the drill. I was just using the screw driver head. Instead we glued and taped an unpainted round wooden ornament for the head. Tah-Dah! Cutting up some of James' holey jeans added a special touch. James drew the patterns for the clothes. I taped them to the materials. James would try to cut them and complain that it was too hard. Then I would touch it up a bit :)

I think that the puppet turned out quite cute in the end. That was only worth 10% of the grade, so we didn't sweat it. James ended up getting full credit. I'm an AWESOME 3rd grader!!!

After crafting, I sent the kids in the back yard so I could clean up before dinner. I pulled out the broom and then scolded myself, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!!" I returned the broom along side the fridge and went to find a camera. I'd need a macro lense to really show you just how far red glitter spreads and how many nooks and crannies it finds. James caught me with the camera and asked, "Mom, do you like remembering all these messes?" Seems I've been doing this a lot lately. "It's evidence," I said.

So here's the aftermath:



Yes, this is a bowl full of Elmer's glue. Jessica "paints" it on her pictures so the glitter will stick.



I took several pictures of this glitter glob until I finally realized that THIS is Jessica's princess puppet. She had the popsicle stick idea herself.


There are always LOTS of clippings on the tile from Jessica's handiwork.

Part 2:
James' written report needed to be in his best cursive handwriting. This takes much more time and concentration than print. James completed this on Wednesday which was great until I read it on Thursday and suggested/insisted that he needed to rewrite the whole thing. He needed more clarity in his writing and he needed to follow the specific directions to meet the grading criteria. He was upset, but pulled out a blank sheet of paper and attempted to write out a revised report based on our discussion of each paragraph.

Later James came to the office in sobs & tears because he had forgotten to make separate paragraphs for each section. It was just one big ol' block of text - well, tilted text. Everything was diagonally diving toward the right. I read his revised version and knew that it still needed work. I also knew that James was not in a state to receive a heavy blow (the one where I said we needed to rewrite the whole thing AGAIN). So, I sent him off to play video games for 30 minutes. I told him we would work on it together after the younger kids had gone to bed. That was a good idea. Later I marked up his copy and taught him about rough drafts. He then went and rewrote his report on LINED paper that I printed for him.

Finally:
James also had to prepare an Oral Presentation where he summarized the book and demonstrated his puppet. At this point it was well past 9:30 p.m. I had too children sleeping on my chest and I had never read the book. He was on his own for that part. We had already reviewed (and clarified) the plot for his writing assignment, so I'd helped all I could.

WE received an A on the assignment :)

Good-Night

Target

I've calculated the cost of my shopping trips to Target (my FAVORITE store). It costs me about $100 per hour. If the trip is going to cost under $50, I need to get in and out of there in a hurry. I'm usually there between 45 minutes - 1 hour, so a typical trip costs about $75-$100. Today I was there just over 2 hours (I'm walking slower these days and you have to add in the time it takes me to load/unload Jayson from the Snuggli). With my spend $100 save $10 coupon, I spent $196.29

Today's cart was filled with: Easter baskets & treats, birthday gifts for Jessica including the Enchanted DVD, swimwear & cover-up for Jessica, pink frames, hair products, protein bars, Yoplait Key Lime yogurt (this is our FAVORITE flavor and it is always 54 cents at Target), 5x7 envelopes, T-shirt for James, baby bib, wrapping paper on clearance, and more hangers.

I dare you to time yourself next time you shop Target. What's it costing you?

Time Out!!!

My daughter Jessica & my son Jacob have been placed in time out repeatedly. They each have their ways of pushing our buttons. But when it comes down to it, it's really ME that needs the time out.

Have I whined enough lately about how I'm totally sleep deprived? I forget stuff. The headaches are aggravated. My patience is in the overdraft, etc.

Last night we got the reminder call that I had signed up to have the missionaries eat dinner with us. Truly I don't know what I was thinking. I must have done it in my sleep. Anyway, we bustled about to get our home in order. I worked hard to have the food prepped early, so I could also manage the fussy baby hour. I had a terrible headache and fuzzy head, so it really was a sacrifice on my part. I really needed a nap instead of dinner guests. Well, stuff happened and appointments went over. The dinner was done and getting cold. Finally the Sisters called to cancel. Jayson was finally resting and I needed to get out.

Where would you go if you were to dart out of your house for a quick break? Do you know where I've been LONGING to go? Answer: the car wash/gas station. They have this massage chair that takes quarters that does the BEST leg, back, and shoulder massage. I've gotten pedicures before and sat in their fancy seats, but this is better. You do realize that IF I had an extra hour and $80 burning a hole in my maternity pant pocket, I would go to the real spa and get a real massage. But, I'm cheap and easily appeased to go sit inside the car wash waiting room and pump quarters into a machine. The good news is that my legs ACHE for a good cause. We went walking/biking as a family last night.

So, I left Jon to clean up dinner, bath Jessica, and get the kids to bed (oh and feed the baby a bottle if I'm not back). THankfully, he was a sport and out I went.

The car wash was closed at this hour, so I proceeded to Bed Bath & Beyond knowing that they have massage chairs on demo mode in the store. Is this sounding pathetic or what??? I called my sleep deprived sister (her baby is ONE week old) and we lamented about how the sky is falling until we can get these babies to give us a break.

I did go beyond Bed Bath & Beyond and found a spring dress for Jessica's upcoming birthday. On the way out of the mall I actually stopped for one of the those kiosk demonstrations. It was Nature Creation that place that sell heat wraps. He strapped on the neck wrap, the low back wrap, and had me inhale the mint pillow. He showed me the lavender heart that is GUARANTEED to take away headaches/migraines (whatever - I don't believe anyone who thinks they can take away one of my headaches). I've actually been thinking about getting a new neck wrap because my old one is lookin' pretty shabby. But I was NOT going to pay $54.99 for one even if I got too free gifts. I knew they liked to wheel and deal. I'm not a great negotiator, but I'm also not willing to pay way too much. But you do see where this is headed. I did walk away from the mall tonight with a new neck/shoulder wrap with a matching mint pillow (to be used instead of Vicks creams to clear sinuses) and the lavender pillow (to cure my headaches). I would have preferred to pay only $25, but I rationalized the price at $39.99.

Cooking Class : Green Sprinkle Pupcakes & Zucchini Bread

Every morning Jessica asks, "Mom, where am I going to?" She hopes I'll say preschool, or My Gym, or dance class (even though she's not even enrolled). I've checked into other classes through the city, but don't want to spend the money or make the commitment to get out the door. SO I had another one of my brilliant ideas while driving home from Sam's Club 2 weeks ago. I could start a cooking class. I'd arrange to have a helper come to hold Jayson, so I could be Jessica's cooking teacher. I had great visions of having adorable aprons and new pink spatulas, but it was all I could do to remember to call a friend over on short notice.

So today was our first "class." Jessica loved it. We baked "pupcakes." (Jessica has never called them cupcakes and I think Strawberry Shortcake's puppy is named Pupcake, so she mixes the two up). While they were in the oven, the girls ran upstairs and changed into ballerina dresses. Then we prepared zucchini bread (because it's green for St. Patricks Day). I let the kids crack the eggs (and scoop out the shells), measure the oil & water, hold the beaters, & whirl the mixer.

The girls loves dumping sprinkles on the frosting. They loved eating the frosting. And they loved spreading MORE frosting on the cake after they'd eaten the first layer of sprinkles and frosting.

Overall, it was a success! Happy St. Patricks Day!!!!

Tagged

This is the first time I've officially been tagged by Blog. If we were racing around the backyard, I'd be IT the WHOLE time because I can't run to save my life. Thanks Joanna for tagging me. It's been fun to reminisce.

20 Years Ago (March 1988) - I was 15 years old and in the ninth grade. I had totally mastered the winged hair. I didn’t have very many trendy clothes, but I did manage to get one jungle print (which was fashionable at the time). I also wore the typical blue eyeliner with lavender shadow. I was singing in Singer’s Unlimited performing group. We traveled to California to perform in Disneyland. I was also attending tons of rehearsals for our stake musical production, The Music Man. I was one of the dancers (which is kind of funny because I’ve got two left feet, but try real hard). This was the time that marks the budding of an eternal friendship with one of my best friends, Alesha Stevens.

10 Years Ago (March 1998) – I was 25 years old. I’d been married to Jon for 8 months. We just started trying to get pregnant. We were living in a basement apartment in Provo, Utah while Jon finished his Advertising degree. He had already accepted a job with GTE and we were planning to move to California in the summer. I was working at Zions Bank as a Financial Service Representative (I opened new accounts and helped customers figure out why they were bouncing checks). I was the 1^st Counselor in the Relief Society of my BYU ward full of newlyweds.

5 Years Ago (March 2003) – I had just hit the big 3-0. My hair was starting to grown out from MY WORST HAIRSTYLE ever. Please remind me that I don't do super short very well. I was the mother to two very active little boys ages 4 & 2 ½. Jon. We lived in our first house (1234 sq. feet). Jon was getting ready to graduate with his MBA. I was SOOO ready for him to be done with school. We were planning our first trip to Hawaii. I was serving as the 1^st Counselor in the Young Womens.

3 Years Ago ( March 2005) – I was the SAHM of three. My baby girl was almost 1 year. I was breastfeeding (I nursed Jessica the longest). We had been in our new house (2300 sq. feet) for six months. James was in half day kindergarten & Jacob was in preschool across town. I had a crazy carpool schedule for my little ones. We purchased Sea World passes and also took the kids to LegoLand. James played his first season of T-ball. We officially entered the sports life of weekday practices and weekend games. I was serving as the Ward Choir Director.

1 Year Ago (March 2007) – I was still the SAHM of three and trying to get pregnant again after my miscarriage in December. I was serving in the nursery, but missing my calling as Young Women’s President. I love the youth. I was very unsettled and discontent. I was exercising regularly, but was at a standstill with my weight. Both boys were playing Little League Baseball, but they were in separate divisions. So we had two teams for practices, games, & volunteering in the snack bar. Jon & I went to DisneyWorld as part of his business trip. We rode all the big rides.

So Far This Year (2008) – I’ve given birth to my fourth & likely last baby. I haven’t slept through the night once yet this year. I’m nursing around the clock. Sleep deprivation makes my fuse shorter and my memory lost. But, I am deeply happy and pleased to be a mother. I turned 35 years old. My home is filled with noise and chaos (and so is my mind). I weigh more than I ever have before which is totally discouraging. I’m thrilled to be teaching in Relief Society. It’s the perfect responsibility for me right now because it’s only once a month. If I could get more rest, I’d be willing to do much more.

Yesterday – I completely forgot to take the kids to the Stake Primary Activity. I designed a birth announcement for Jayson & sent thank you cards (and yes I realize that I’m totally breaking etiquette rules by being so late). I went shopping with the baby at Sam’s Club. I rarely shop on Saturdays because I don’t like crowds, but I needed to pick up my prints. I got the 3-6 month size clothes out for Jayson and bagged up the newborn outfits he’s outgrown. He fits into most of the 0-3 month size. Just depends on the brand.

Today – I didn’t make it to church until Relief Society. (Nursing three times a night is killing me). I attended choir practice. I tried to stay calm while Jayson was discontent again today. He decided that he’d rather have us stand to hold him and that he didn’t want to take any noticeable naps. I’ve been sorting through old photos and reminiscing about when my other kids were Jayson’s age. I found out that my brother plans to move his family to the Philipines. I’m staying up WAY too late because I want to finish this list while I can type with both hands.

Tomorrow – I told Jessica that we could have a cooking class. I’m going to be her teacher and we are making St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes. A sweet sister from church (who is like a grandma surrogate) is coming to my home to help hold the baby so I can spend a little time with Jessica in the kitchen. I have a bunch of laundry to fold. I did most of the washing yesterday.

This year – I plan to savor being a mother of an infant – last chance. I look forward to visit our family in Utah – especially since my sister just had her baby boy also. I want lots of pics of these cousins together. I’m hoping to improve my photography skills AND actually order some prints. Finishing the Book of Mormon this spring is also on my agenda. I’ve missed being on a regular study schedule. My soul could use the inspiration. I’ll be getting my walking shoes on too. I need fitness restored to my jiggly body.

I’d like to tag: Laneea, Jolene, Hyla, Denise, Alesha, Tracy, & Kimberly BUT they don’t blog yet.

So, I tag: Sara (both of you), Lisa, Jaci, & Lyndsey

"(you only need to tag 3 friends, but I got carried away).