Close Ups

I've been determined to get us out of the house and having fun in the sun so we went out last Monday to Fairytale town and the boys had their first sno cones. We've been to our friend's pool a lot but Michael has an ear infection and I am feeling like something's coming, something with a fever and joint pain. I have decided that maybe I'll stop getting sick once I learn not to get so mad about it. I think I actually get to spend more time with the boys when we're out of the house. They have fun and don't even realize I'm feeding the baby, then when she's asleep they can still be loud and run around, two no-no's in the house.

I put Anna in this cute dress and had a photo shoot. She is getting so big and is so happy! She's always smiling and gets excited when the boys come up to talk to her. She's going to be so lucky to have these sweet big brothers!



And for fun, here's Sam loading a book into his backpack. It's Bill O'Rielly. He pulled it off the shelf himself. I guess FOX has a future audience.

Here's Michael and Dad in the "library." The boys love taking books off of the shelf and are learning the letter sounds. This is Michael's favorite letter book. It shows the history of how our letters got their current shapes.

Off to take a load off my feet!

This Is My Idea of Fun!

Anyone familiar with the cartoon movie "The Swan Princess?" Sam is in love with it. We've watched every day for a week. Prince Derick sports a bow and arrow and defeats the evil Rothbart to free Princess Odette from the spell keeping her a swan by day, human by night. Basically "Swan Lake" for kids. There's this great song at the beginning which illustrates the developing relationship of the young prince and princess as their arranged marriage approaches. They go back and forth between "this is my idea of fun" and "this isn't my idea of fun." It's been stuck in my head all week so that's what this post is about.
THIS is my idea of fun. Breath of heaven. Pure, angelic, joyful, warm, easy to put to sleep fun!

Three freshly bathed kids and an involved husband at bedtime.
First time on the kiddie rides. (They were actually too scared to really go up in it!)

Michael braved the flying fish alone.
Together on the kiddie train. Note Sam's D.I. bike helmet he wears every where! People ask me if there's a "special" reason he's wearing it. Well, it's his armor, of course! Every knight needs a helmet!
Climbing over the fence at the San Francisco zoo. Good thing it was the penguins instead of the lions!
Anna's first trip to the ocean at San Francisco's Ocean Beach.
Picnic at the overlook at Muir Beach. I took one look and told Josh I am sold on California. That is really saying something but it's true. If you want to see me, come visit. I am staying.
My first time seeing ocean cliffs in person. Breathtaking!
I want to go back tomorrow and feel the breeze!
I asked Sam what he thought was on the freighter heading into San Francisco Bay. Pirates.
First trip to see giant Redwoods.

The boys made Josh tell them all about how the Ewok scenes of Return *of the Jedi were filmed in the Redwood forest. Someone passed us with our two strollers and said not quietly enough that we had a lot of children. I guess three in strollers is a lot. It feels like a lot.Michael. He got my glasses out of the van but the expression on his face is hilarious. Post your guesses as to what is he thinking?

Now for "This Isn't My Idea of Fun." I was thinking of the following post titles tonight before I decided to go positive on all of the great ways Josh has been getting me out of the house since I can finally walk further than 20 feet without having a contraction!

• Defining "Easily" in "Charity is not easily provoked."

Well, the rest escape me now! That's the blessing for counting my blessings. I had a whole list ready to go before I began, but now I'm just thinking about eating my turkey club sandwich on an ocean cliff and it is impossible to remember the reasons I was so worked up thirty minutes ago. I think it had something to do with mastitis, bladder infections, allergies, twin fevers and colds, and twin sleep deprivation and attitudes, but you'll have to use your imagination.

Four Airplanes and A Wedding

We went to Washington, DC for Josh's brother's wedding and I didn't have my camera with me at the temple! I came home with a lot of pictures of my kids but none of the bride and groom. Josh has some on his phone but I can't post those. Whoops! I recommend every new mom taking a trip. I came home with a marker between the early postpartum days and the rest of my life. Ah, here we go three kids!

We got up at 4am to make our first flight. I had slept three hours and had mastitis, again. Rough start. Anna slept the entire way except when she ate. The boys were very excited to be on a plane and watched a lot of movies on the laptop. We flew to Seattle, then into Baltimore. We were so lucky to stay with my sister and her family at their house. I would not have done the trip if we had to stay in a hotel the whole time. We went up to Philadelphia for the reception, stayed in a hotel that night, and blessed Anna at the ward Josh grew up in the next morning.
Our Georgianna is named after her great grandmother who was there. It was perfect. Grandma Anna, as we have started calling her, is a wonderful example of faith, endurance, and charity. We love her with all our hearts and are so thrilled our daughter is here at last to share her name. She gave the baby a ring she was wearing when she prayed to know more about her Heavenly Father and found the Church. Anna wore this ring on a chain as a necklace along with the blessing dress my mother made by hand when my oldest sister was blessed. We were so happy to be there with all of the family in town for the wedding and my sister Debbie with her boys, Matt and Jacob, and daughter Lydia who drove up from Maryland to be at church that morning.
Anna reached six weeks while we stayed at Debbie's house. The boys played pirates and knights all day long with dress up costumes and props galore from the basement. Their cousins were very patient play mates, or should I say "Mateys!" Arrrgh!The exhaustion caught up with us and Michael spent one day sick in bed after throwing up his breakfast all over himself. He obediently stayed in bed, sleeping a five hour stretch and being very sweet. Debbie went out to Radio Shack, twice, in the rain, with a terrible sinus headache, to get a new power cord for a little t.v. so he could watch Peter Pan in bed. Bless her!Sam didn't like being without Michael at first, but quickly learned how fun it is to have playmate all to yourself. We were exhausted zombies the entire time we were there, but we managed to visit in between meals and feedings and felt so at home. We were all sad to leave!
We did spend one afternoon visiting friends in Virginia. Here the boys are with our good friends from our old ward. When we left their little son my boys' age said, "Bye! See you next week!" It was so sad. I wish we could see them every week! They love him and his older brothers doing boy things together like sword fighting and climbing trees.
We flew home late at night with a plane change in San Diego. Sam left his bear "Moe" in the airport but our flight attendant raced back into the terminal and rescued him, from two gates down, for the flight! Thank you!!! We went to bed at 3am eastern time that night and are still a little off from the sleep situation, but we have a newborn too, so who knows what time it is anyway!

Back at home, summer has finally come. It has been cold (50's) and rainy and miserable. We bought some flip flops which Michael especially loves because he can put them on himself. I love that too! Hurray for more independence! He's also stopped having potty accidents, at least "#1" since we've been home.
The boys love Anna. They wonder why she cries and drive me insane while I'm nursing her jumping on the couch, pawing at her and screaming at the top of their lungs, or, if I manage to "banish" them as Michael puts it, they make huge messes on purpose. The only thing that works is t.v. which we have been trying to use less and less. They really do love her though and talk about teaching her to talk and play. Michael says when she grows up he will marry her. I think that is true love right there. And really, who could resist those cheeks!

Girl Time

Today while the boys were saving the Universe with Transformers,

Anna and I ironed.
See how neatly she folded her dad's handkerchief? I am so proud of her.



It's fun to have another girl in the house.

I'm pretty sure she started social smiles yesterday. They are adorable, if I do say so myself.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who find joy in taking care of little ones, your own or others'.
The boys sang Mother's Day songs with the Primary for the first time during church. It was darling. Michael's face was only visible from the nose up. Either he was hiding or he's just so little! They both sang and it was great.
And then there's little Misses Anna. So fun.

We didn't do much because I still feel sick from the mastitis but I did get a great two hour nap! Thank you Josh! That's what moms REALLY want! Hope you enjoyed your special day.

"Tonight, Tonight "

Tonight wasn't "just any night." Josh had meetings and a temple cleaning assignment and is still gone at 10:30. We ate dinner together with him before he left, then it was time to put the boys to bed. One hour later Sam threw a tantrum when it was time to turn out the lights. He is having nightmares about robbers and refused to sleep in his bed unless I left on the light. He shares a room with Michael and I knew two boys with the lights on equals no sleep so I refused. He went into my room and is sleeping in Josh's spot in our bed.

Then I went to feed Anna, about an hour late after being told I need to keep her on a 3 hour schedule during the day for my own sake. (I'm on my second round of antibiotics for mastitis in two weeks). I fed her downstairs, trying to relax enough to get the job done while Michael was upstairs slamming his door open and shut for 45 minutes. I called to him to come downstairs but he wouldn't which could only mean he messed his pants and didn't want me to know.

Upstairs. I skipped rocking Anna to sleep. I skipped pumping. I convinced Michael I wasn't mad and put Anna in her crib to hope she liked looking at something and wouldn't cry. I made Michael take off his own underwear and wipe his own bum and legs which mortified him. "But I'm scared! It's disgusting! I don't want to touch it!" Guess what, me neither! Maybe this will help get the message through to him that the toilet really is better. He has been making friends with the idea and even went into the bathroom once before doing it in his pants. Tonight he said he did it in his underwear because he had just been to the bathroom, washed his hands, and brushed his teeth. I guess it just sounded too hard to go in their again after just coming out, but the cleaning up may help him get over this issue in time to start preschool in August. Let's all pray! I am looking forward to preschool!

All clean, I get Michael to his room, sans Sam. He then asks me a series of questions that are impossible to ignore: Why did Jesus die on the cross? Why was Heavenly Father sad that he died? Why did the devil trick Eve? Does the devil like daddy? Where does the devil live now? Wow! Really? At 10pm when I am dying to sleep (after I post about this, of course).

So, Anna is sleeping in her crib for the first time ever instead of the bouncy seat in our bedroom. I have to move the nursery monitor. I have to make sure she eats enough during the night and then pump to make sure it's all out so I can get over this infection once and for all.

Sam is sleeping in Josh's spot. I will make Josh move him when he gets home. Michael is contemplating the universe but cannot make it to the toilet to do his business. I have to wash the pump, read the Book of Mormon, and try to fall asleep before Anna wakes up to eat. I am leaving the dishes, even the pan that reeks of salmon, for the morning.

Just thought this was one for the record. Goodnight!

Pretty In Pink

Hello from Babyland. We've been re-cooping, going through the ups and downs, and playing babies. My mom and dad came out for a week and took care of me, then we had a week on our own, then my niece Angie came for a week last week to hold the baby and entertain the boys. We are so thankful for their help and will miss them!
So, tomorrow will be four weeks since she was born and we begin being on our own for good. I am feeling a lot better physically and emotionally and I think I'm figuring out how to get Anna to sleep even with the noisy boys here but that will be my biggest challenge this week.
She is changing every few days. We no longer have any idea who she looks like but she does look like both of her brothers.

We love it when she puts her arms over me like this.
Grandma and Grandpa with grandchild number 23!
The boys were a little perturbed that they couldn't have me all to themselves and spent the week with Grandma and Grandpa at a safe distance until their last day or so here.
Reading to them is a sure way to win them over.
Sam loves Anna. He sings to her and like to get her pacifier even though she usually spits it out.

Today was the first day I went to church. Here's Anna in her dress from Grandma all ready for her first Sunday. The boys were proud to show her off.
Pretty in her first dress.
Here's her favorite place to be - held!
Not thinking about what I'm writing so much as just wanting to get the pictures up and say we're doing well. I think the boys will appreciate having me all to themselves, and Anna, this week. I am feeling stronger and hope to get out of the house so the boys don't spend so much time watching TV.

Now I'm going to hold my baby, listen to her breathe, and smell her baby smell! I love this girl! I feel so much more of a kinship than I did with the boys. Maybe it's just easier to bond with one than it was with two, or maybe it's the fact that I am actually getting some sleep this time around, but I feel like we're such good friends.