{Family}

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Bad mommy moment.

So I have been a little bit on the down and out the past few days. Exhausted. Junk in my chest. Congested. I wanted to take an hour yesterday after the kids got home from school to get some basic things done around the house, but every other minute somebody was crying or asking for something or needing my intervention, so I was slightly frustrated. I went to my bedroom and was going to allow myself to read for ten minutes to just breathe and relax and not one minute after opening my book Carter came in and said, "Mom?" I sighed and in an exasperated voice said, "What." To which he produced a flower that he had picked outside. I felt horrible. I scooped him up in a big hug and told him 'thank you'. What a bad mom I am. He could sense I needed a flower. What a sweet, sensitive boy I have. I am lucky.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Grandma & Grandpa Great

My Grandma and Grandpa Jensen came to town for a week. We hadn't seen them in years and it was so amazingly fun to catch up with them and have them get to know my kids better. We enjoyed lots of dinners up at my parents house with them and some taco time (one of my grandpa's all time favorite restaurants). One night was an adult only dinner at Roosters Steak House. Yum!

The real reason they came was so that my grandpa could seal my sister, her husband, and her baby together in the temple for eternity. It was such an amazing day. All of my siblings were able to be to the sealing. Poor Everett was not too happy being with the matron of the temple while my grandpa spoke some words to Alli and Nic. When it was time for Everett to come into the sealing room, he still wouldn't calm down, but the second the ceremony started he just looked at the chandelier and around the room, quiet and calm as could be. It was so tender and special. We all enjoyed lunch out afterwards.

Me and my siblings. I love them!

We were all sad to see Grandma and Grandpa Jensen go, but hopefully we'll be able to make a trip down to AZ in the not too distant future to visit.

Toothless

Carter finally pulled his front tooth on March 18th. His permanent front tooth had been poking through behind his baby tooth for a few weeks and it progressively pushed the baby tooth further and further out until it was pretty much at a 90 degree angle to his gums and he couldn't close his mouth over it! I am not exaggerating. He was a total hillbilly. We are glad he finally pulled it, though it did take a little bribery from dad; Wii playing any time he asked that week (so long as his homework was done). And Carter totally took advantage of it. At one point we were at my parent's house and he asked to play and I said, "Not right now." And then Carter sweetly reminded me, "Remember you said I could play whenever I want because of..." and pointed to his gaping hole where his tooth was. I just laughed and told him to go ahead and play. Funny boy. He did pull it himself though and was very adamant that nobody else attempt to pull it.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

St Patty's Day

Andi had a class assignment to make a leprechaun trap, or you better believe that we would not be doing one on our own. It was fun to sit down with her and look at ideas and think about how she wanted to do hers. I enjoyed the one on one time we used to make it. It was fun to do together. She did a really cute job on it.

Other than that, the leprechaun left footprints up our fridge and he had colored our milk green, of course! He did a few mischievous things around the house, like hang our pictures upside down, and left a slew of green treats on the table (andes mints, green laffy taffy, shamrock stickers, st patty day pins, gummy frogs, gummy apple rings, etc). That was it. However, all day the kids went around looking for other things the leprechaun did, which he didn't. Were my shoes by the door or did the leprechaun move them? He moved my backpack onto my floor! Those toys were on the other side of the room! Was my toothbrush left on the counter? That pen wasn't there on the table when we went to bed! They were cracking me up. They all wore their green to church and we enjoyed corned beef for dinner. My kids loved it!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Lay off me I'm starving!

Well, I've managed to do it again. I have starved yet another one of my children. Beckett had been super fussy for pretty much the whole month of February. He cried unless he was being fed or sleeping, and sometimes if you were holding him. Don't even think about laying him on the ground! The mere motion of starting to lean back would set him off into hysterics. I had a hunch that my milk supply was low, but Beckett wouldn't take the bottle when I offered it. I figured if he was hungry enough he would take the bottle. We started rice cereal once a day at the end of February (as previously posted) and he loved it! I kept it at once a day for a week or so, until he had his doctor's appointment. B Boy only weighs 12lbs 9.6 oz (off the bottom of the chart for weight) and is 25.25" long (25% for height). The poor kid has been starving! So, since B-man still won't take a bottle, or sippy cup, I immediately upped his feedings to three times a day. And since he already had the hang of the whole eating thing, he just took off and loves solids! He eats at least two bowls of food at each feeding; usually one vegetable and one bowl of rice cereal mixed with formula. Within about three days of upping his feedings he is a totally different baby! Happy all the time. Finally talking and so easy to make giggle. Before he made no noise, unless it was to cry. No cooing, laughing, talking, nothing. I feel horrible as a mother for not being able to produce enough food for him, but feel so relieved and happy that my baby is back. He has a weight check in a few weeks so I'll be interested to see how much he has grown. Moral of the story: don't starve your baby.

Big Girl Bo-Bo.

We put Bentley in a big girl bed on March 9th. She always would lay in the other girls' beds at bedtime and not want to get in her crib, and since we need the crib for Beckett, we thought it would be a great time to transition. We rearranged the rooms that weekend and put Taytum in her own room with new bedding and decorations. Then we let Bentley have the pull out bed under Andi's. The first night we were anticipating a disaster. We heard Andi and Bentley talking and said we would give them ten minutes before we went in to quiet them and make sure they were in their own beds. Well, they were quiet right away and when I decided to go investigate, this is what I found....

Bentley had crawled up into Andi's bed and they fell asleep cuddling. It was so sweet! She has been awesome ever since too. She has only come out of her room a couple of times. That's not to say that she doesn't get out of bed. She likes to get in Andi's bed or go sit by the door. But all in all it has been a very smooth transition.

Jon + Karla come to town!

We were so lucky to have Jefferson's dad, Jon, and his wife Karla come visit us for a weekend. They were only here for a few short days, but we packed in a lot of fun and the kids loved spending time with them.
Grandpa Jon was great at wrestling, chasing, and teaching the kids new games, like 'Once a week'.

Grandma Karla got her love on. Beckett and Bentley loved that she would tote them around and Taytum loved getting her legs, arms, or back scratched by her.

We were able to take Jon and Karla to see Jefferson's office and listen to Jefferson and Jon swap stories and advice.

And we enjoyed some yummy meals. The first night we went to my parents house for dinner and enjoyed some adult conversation. The next day we went out to Applebee's for lunch and had dinner at home.

It was so fun to see them and have our kids reconnect with them. My kids are sure blessed with amazing grandparents all around.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

My shiny

How many times can I say it? This girl is special. My friend described her perfectly when she called her "shiny." She is just full of life and energy and love. I forget that this little beauty is only 3 1/2 years old.

Whenever she sees Beckett she stops mid-whatever she is doing (speaking, crying, running, watching) and will just shake and squeal and get up in his face to love on him. She used to call Beckett "Shlala Baby" and has since moved onto "Beckadoosh." And for some reason, both names have stuck. Taytum literally cannot contain her excitement so she'll just bop Beckett wherever; hand, forehead, tummy. Not hard, but just a little bop so that he knows she's there.

She is really into Alice in Wonderland right now. We cannot wait to take her to Disneyland. She has become a lot more adventurous since the last time we went. I mean, the girl likes swings finally! Not going too high still, but she enjoys them. She loves being held upside down by Jefferson too.

Taytum "gets" her own room because she can't leave everybody alone and let them sleep. She doesn't even let herself sleep. She always has a pile of books in her bed when we go to check on her at night and she is always the last one asleep.