Guess Who 2

Marianne- Sept 2011- almost 6 weeks old.
Kate- April 2007- three weeks old
Kate- April 2007- four weeks old
Marianne Sept 2011- almost three weeks old.

I look down at Marianne when I am holding her and have deja vu all the time. If it doesn't come across in the pictures, these two girls look so similar, and somehow already have the same mannerisms and movement. But they are not exactly the same. Marianne is starting to have more of her own look everyday. It doesn't help though that she wears all of Kate's old clothes.

And just to not leave him out- here is sam when he was four weeks old. He just doesn't look like the girls. The girls look like little elves as babies. Sam looks more like a seal. Was it because he was just so much bigger? Or because he didn't know how to smile for soooo long? Maybe those heavy eyes?

I think they are all adorable. I love my babies.

More Pictures of Kids.

Just some pictures of my adorable Marianne.

Jake took Sam last minute to the BYU football game on Friday Night. I loved that they went. I was sad I wasn't there too. Sam told me his favorite part was the "marching" he means the marching band at half time. Jake agreed this was his favorite part. He also told me about the clapping. Jake told me he mostly just ran around flirting with everyone and dancing the whole night. Lately Marianne gets lots of attention because she is a baby, and Kate gets to do a lot of special things like school, and dance and play date because she is that age now, so Sam gets a little lost I think. I was glad he got this special night with his Dad.

Raspberry Picking

I found this website online. A u-pick raspberry farm about an hour away from us.

I in-visioned this perfect fall evening. With happy children running up and down the rows, perfect fall weather, perfect lighting for pictures, ending in perfect fall family memories. Ha Ha!

It was memorable that is for sure. And fun in the end too.

But we were lost and driving frustrated around Payson for over an hour to find the farm. If you are going to go I recommend a map, and calling me first. We had directions of google, a smart phone with GPS and three phone calls to the farm itself and it still took us about a hour to find, and we were seconds from just going home. Lesson learned.

I am a Utah girl who always thinks I will just be able to find something from an address abra- cadabra. It never works.

We arrived and started picking. And withing about five minutes Marianne- who was in a front pack on me, pooped and peed all over the both of us. And silly me- having never had this happen with her, did not have clothes for either of us. Marianne ended up wearing a sweatshirt for pants, and I luckily had a sweatshirt in the car which covered the mess but was still disgusting.

Once we were cleaned up though we headed back out. Jake and the kids had already picked a few pounds of raspberries. We spent about an hour, and managed to pick 6lbs. And it was fun, finding good rows, and watching the children do such a great job, and the weather was perfect.

Six pounds though- Crazy Town!

This morning we turned about half of it into a year supply of freezer jam for us.

Fun fall traditions for the family I think.... but next year we will know where we are going and bring some extra clothes.

I forgot some of the best parts of this trip.

One was Kate using an outhouse for the 1st time and telling us it was "super awesome"

Also her singing a song on the way home that she made up like this

"ABCDEFG,

You should learn your letters and your numbers,

so you can go to college,

because you get to have lots of friends there,

and it is lots of fun"

Sam's highlights are mostly just him saying "pick-ing rasp-berr-ies" in his broken syllables like he does. Also when we were looking for the farm he would point out all kinds of barns and tell us "there is the farm"

This Happy Day

Things that made me happy today.

1. My baby slept in her crib last night, and for two naps today.... not in my arms. Hooray!

2. Our whole family went on a fall picnic for lunch. Jake and I talked about our hopes and dreams while the children collected pine cones. No really, this actually happened.

3. I worked out and it was before 9:00 at night

4. Baking. It is fall after all.

5. My baby is big enough to finally wear all the clothes that fill her closet. And she looks adorbs!

6. Two children taking afternoon naps at the same time.

7. Kate and her friend filling the house with giggles all afternoon.

8. My baby fell asleep on my chest while I watched Nate Berkus. I never wanted to move.

9. My sweet new Zara.com shoes arrived on the porch around noon.

10. All the laundry is done at my house.

11. Our ridiculous health insurance premium did not go up with the addition of our third child.

12. I made dinner for the family.

The day is not over so the potential for my day to be ruined still exists, but lets celebrate the small victories. Especially in my new life with 3 children.

Miss Marianne is 1 month Old

yes she smiles.... at me when I come get her. Only me though!


Marianne was one month old this weekend.

I hate it when my babies turn 1 month old.

It means my babies are growing up for one. There is a rule about no growing up in our house. I am always telling the kids, but like always they never listen!

But also because I always feel like I should be getting more done, like getting dressed by one month, and not into maternity clothes, but I never am. I also always feel like I am should be sleeping, but am still up ever two hours.

Really though the hardest thing about having this newborn this past month has been that I just want to sit and cuddle her and stare at her all day long, but really I can't do that. To mark one month and the true placement of Marianne to our family here is a list of her already obtained nick names.

1.Marianne- we call her this most, and although it is her name, it is not what we thought we would call her.

2. Miss Marianne

3. Andee

4. Big Eyes

5. Angel- This may be one that sticks. Like Kate's Sunshine and Sam's Sweetheart.

6. Tiny One- Jake calls her this

7. M-

8. MaryAndy- the kids call her this one on accident a lot

9. Gorgeous

10. Peanut- we called her this within minutes of her birth. Before she even had a name. I don't know what it is about me and calling my kids proteins. I called Kate Baby Burrito, and Sam Baby Bean.

11. Babybebebebe- Sam calls her this

12. Maize

13. Our little owl- because of the big eyes and the not sleeping.

14. Love- this is what Kate wants her to be named and calls her

15. Sis- I call both the girls this.

16. Our Billy Goat- because she grunts like one constantly, and especially at night in her sleep.

As you can see- though she is still little, she is putting on the weight just fine.

We love those chubby cheeks and double chin. She still has some chicken legs though.

We love her dearly.

It is raining, it is pouring, while the baby is actually snoring.

The kids wanted to ride their bikes outside this afternoon. And they maybe could have as the baby was actually asleep for a minute. But I told them they couldn't because it was cold and rainy. "Raining" was their exclamation. They quickly put on their boots and begged for their umbrellas then went tromping outside looking for puddles to jump in. They were more excited about this idea of their then riding bikes. Sometimes I don't know where they are learning this stuff. Sadly it hadn't actually rained that much so there were not puddles yet But they still had fun with their umbrellas. Samuel kept running over to me covering me with his saying he was saving me when it got extra windy. Kate practiced marching while twirling hers around and around like a circus act.
This is two weeks ago, we met up with a bunch of Jake's family for a Labor Day get together. This is cousin Declan born 10 days before miss M. They just both have animal bum pants. So pictures came of it. Yes he is a million times bigger then M it is true. I just downloaded these picture from facebook.

Funny Kids

Stuff my kids have said lately.

Sam watching me nurse the baby.

He points to one breast

"There is milk in there?"

yes I tell him. He is figuring this new baby stuff out

He points to the other breast

"And juice in there?"

No Sam, I am not a soda fountain. I only come in one flavor.

Kate telling me about her new friends in school.

"she has two colors of hair brown and blonde like mine. I guess Jesus got mixed up. But she likes it alright" I can't wait to meet this little girl Jesus got mixed up on when making her hair.

Sam.

Every time he gets the smallest amount of food or drink or dirt on his clothes he wants to wash them. He gets upset, takes the item off and puts it in the washer. Then asks

"mommy wash it?"

I do.

the next day when he finds that clothing item. He says

"mommy dry it, peas?"

I say yes

sam says "tank you mommy"

every time. Every time he thanks me for doing his laundry. I love him for his appreciation.

Kids Kids Kids

This picture is my boy Sam.

I mean what says "BOY" more than double band-aid knees (cars band-aids at that) paired with puppy dog galoshes.
He is not all tough boy though. There is still some sweetheart in him. He sure is smitten with the new baby. He is constantly trying to tickle her and saying "hi babybebebebe"
Marianne, or "Big Eyes" as we have been calling her, is finally growing into those eyes. Now that she has some cheeks, her eyes don't seem as ridiculous. Her big eyes fit her perfectly though- she is like an owl. Big eyes and nocturnal. A real night owl.
I really wonder where Marianne gets those big eyes.....her big sister has them too.

I sure love these kids. I have missed them so much. It is not like I'm not around, I have just been so sick for so long. I had looked forward to giving birth to Marianne so I could not be sick anymore. But I've really just been sick or sicker ever since. It has been my hardest recovery yet. My morning sickness lingered for about 8 days even after M was born. Yes that is right, not only do I have morning sickness from pregnancy hormone every day for 40 week, I have it after too while my body gets rid of those hormones. Nothing like throwing up when you have just had a baby. Then I had the flu when M was two weeks old. Now I have strep throat, with a fever of nearly 104 I was almost delusional for the past two days. But now have returned to my mostly normal mental capacity. Ha! The good news is no other member of my family has gotten anything. They have stayed healthy. I guess they have working immune systems thank goodness. I went to the Dr. today. He put me on some antibiotics and a steroid. And thanks to my mom who came over yesterday afternoon- made my family dinner, played with the kids and put them to bed. Thanks to my most dearest friend Janalyn-who took my kids all day, to school, to play at her house and to a picnic at the park. I got some rest, managed to make it to the Dr, and then tried to decontaminate the house. And mostly thanks to my superhero of a husband who has held down way more than his share of family responsibility and child care for the better part of a year. It is the big things he does like letting me sleep in over and over again, it is also the little things like how he puts gaterade in the fridge so it will be cold for me. He really is a superhero. With people like this in my life, and my antibiotics, I am hoping to be back to myself soon so I can enjoy some of the fall with the family I love.

Weekend Update

Marianne ready to go with Mom and Dad
The kids eating pudding pops.This weekend was great.

Two days where I felt like myself more. Where I felt like life would go on after 3 children.

It started with a dinner date with Jake on Friday evening. Of course Marianne tagged along. The kids hung out with Grandma and Grandpa and we got away.... for one hour.... which felt like three. The hour was not even uninterrupted as Marianne, of course, was awake. But small whines from a 3 week old pale in comparison to a house full of small children climbing all over us every minute for something from one or both of us. It was my return to society. Well I had clothes and makeup on and was out on the town.

Saturday was a relaxing and productive day. Jake took Marianne for much of it except to hand her off for me to feed her. He was watching a lot of football so she just hung out on the couch with him. Which meant my arms were free! Free to clean and cook. In one Saturday I got more done than possibly the entire last eight weeks. It included obsessively cleaning out most the closets and cupboards in the house. And it was awesome! Seriously you should see my closets.

oh wait. you can see them. Here

Sunday brought our 1st attempt as a family of five to get through 3 hours of church. My kids are so cute. Loud. but cute. Sam was so excited to wear his new "big tie" I made him. He sat and sang "I am a child of God" the opening hymn, except that he doesn't know how to sing, he just yells the words. When I picked up Kate from her primary class she had one lone Cheez-it in her hand. Her teacher said they had eaten some, but she had chosen to save one for her brother. And held one Cheez-it in her small sweaty hand for most the class- denying herself to eat it so she could give it to the brother she is so sweet to. And she did. And he ate it right up.

And that was the weekend.

3 Weeks and a Blessing

Our Big Eyes is three weeks old as of last night. We are still adjusting to life with 3 kids. We love our sweet Marianne, but she sure doesn't like to sleep. I don't know any other newborn who only sleeps 20 minutes of five hours most days. Perhaps as she puts on some weight this will change.


The three of us. Really Jake and I are fighting pounding headaches from two sleepless nights in a row and I think you can see it on our faces. I didn't even attempt a full family picture, or get any pictures with anyone else. This was also partly because Marianne puked all over her dress in the few minutes it was uncovered. I used that as an excuse, really you can't see the puke.
We did have a wonderful Sunday with tons of family from near and far here to be with us on Marianne's special day. And as a special treat, we got to spend most the weekend with many of them because of the extra long holiday.

1st Day of Preschool

Kate's 1st day of preschool was this morning.

She has been looking forward to school for so long.

Back in July we went school shopping. She picked out clothes and a backpack and supplies. She has had this dress picked out as her 1st day of school outfit for a few weeks.

She is going to Little Learners Preschool with Mrs. Duke.

Kate shows off her backpack. She picked it out. It is obviously too big for her, and also filled with things she wants and thinks she needs to bring to school but doesn't actually need.

When I dropped her off she found her backpack hook with her name, and then found her chair with her name. She was so happy, just grinning from ear to ear. It looks like there are about 5 boys and 5 girls in her class counting her. I said goodbye and she happily waved at me.

When I picked her up she was still grinning from ear to ear. On the way home she opened up her backpack to show me stuff she had made and tell me about it. She told me about the story they read, that she did show and tell (she brought some Barbie from McDonald's) and about the new dress ups there were to play with- but said nobody would play dress up with her.

She said she loved her new school.

I am so happy for her and all the fun she is going to have.

Here at home, 2.5 hours with only 2 kidswhile Kate was at school was a great thing, even if Marianne only slept for 20 minutes of it. Sam kept on asking "where is Kate" "Where is my fun Kate" "Where is my friend Kate?". Sam got tons more attention that usual. Book reading, cooking together, puzzles and a haircut (which he loves) and a bath. Marianne just watched and listened, and ate.

We all Scream....

Have I told you about the ice cream truck that roams our neighborhood.

No?

It is really strange.

It comes all year long, and although it plays loudly a silly tune with a "Hello" at the end from its speakers, it doesn't really draw children.

It always stops at our neighbors house. And one house around the corner. They seem like nice enough neighbors, but I'll admit these are the neighbors we don't know.

And like I said.

I have never, ever, not once seen a child waiting in anticipation for a frozen treat to be handed out the window of this ice cream van.... except for one time two years ago when I helped Kate to buy a treat from it.

Jake and I often joke that we think it is really selling stolen narcotics or something.

Like I said, the only people I see at its window are adult neighbors who I don't know.

We live in a really nice neighborhood really.

But why else is this truck only stopping at two houses, not drawing children, and has the same repeat adult customers at its window each evening.

It is strange.

Then today, around five, Sam and I were in the living room sitting on the couch. The silly tune started to play. And Sam got all excited "Ice Cream Truck, Ice Cream Truck!"

How he knows what an ice cream truck is I am not sure, how he knows it by the sound on the street, sight unseen without ever having the experience of getting ice cream from a truck.... beyond me... he likely saw it on Yo Gabba Gabba or something.

We together, looked out the door.

When his suspicions were confirmed I told him to go get Kate and I would get some money.

She was downstairs in the basement.

He stood at the top of the stairs calling down "Ice Cream Truck Kate!"

She hurried up.

And the three of us ventured over with the cash I managed to rummage out of my purses over to the neighbors house where the truck sat parked.

Then we waited.

For like 10 minutes of more.

For the adult neighbors, the ones I've seen over and over at the truck, to purchase things.

I didn't SEE any illegal narcotics being exchanged, nor absorbent amounts of cash changing hands (though i though $2 for an ice cream was a bit overpriced). I'll keep my assumptions anyways.

What I did see them buy was lots and lots of roasted corn on the cob on a stick.... for $1.50.

and a ring pop.

When it was finally our turn the kids each picked out a treat.

For Kate a barbie pop that looked just like her

For Samuel, Spiderman.

Then we sat on the front porch and they tried to eat the treats before they melted off the stick onto my newly washed front porch. They were not very successful.

But they were thrilled with the experience.

It made me sad though that it was such an event.

When I was a kid we got ice cream from the ice cream truck at least bi wekly.

We saved our nickels and went on our own.

And I doubt my mother feared we would be caught up in some sort of drug ring.

I know, I'm probably being ridiculous.

Not ice cream related. A picture of Kate and Samuel coloring together on the floor. They are both getting so good. Kate draws masterpieces with characters and storylines. Samuel is mastering the face and is always drawing people, and sometimes monsters.

Parenthood.

I saw a status update on Facebook from myself from last year.

"Motherhood: Waking up in a pool of vomit that belongs to somebody you didn't even know was in your bed"

I mostly said it being funny.

Sometimes I think I am.

But it was true. Both Sam and Kate were really sick. That was a year or more ago I think.

My humorous thoughts today.....

"Parenthood: Spending the hours between 10 and midnight with my husband on the couch in front of the tv with our shirts both off. It may sound like a steamy evening at first, but really we had both been covered in vomit, removed our shirts and were too tired to go upstairs to get new shirts."

Having kids is a blast.

You may think I said that with sarcasm in my voice. But I didn't. I mean it.

Having kids is a blast, vomit and all.

Having an incredible man to laugh with me when I get puked on, only to laugh at him when he gets puked on minutes later makes the journey even sweeter.