7 Quick Takes that have nothing to do with Pregnancy

I follow the Conversion Diary Blog by Jenifer Fulwiler.  Every Friday she writes 7 quick takes about life lately and invites others to do it too.  I thought it would be fun to join in this week.  If you want to see her post, and all the others click here.

1

Yesterday I walked somewhere between 3 and 6 miles.  I'm not sure what the distance of our bike trail is, but I did 6 laps.  This was my last ditch effort to get labor going again.  It didn't work and so I have completely given up on this baby ever coming out.  I wont mention my pregnancy again until I suddenly have a baby in my arms.  (But I will say that for how determined she was to get conceived she seems pretty indifferent to actually being born.)

2  

I took a personality test because there was a link to one on Jenifer's blog and I can't sleep.  I vaguely remember taking this test before, and I was pretty certain I was the INTJ type, but I wanted to be sure.  After 80 questions the results came up, INTJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging) and I was like, "yup."  Then I read the profile and was like, "That is so me!"
Things like this are especially true:

INTJ personalities also have an unusual combination of both decisiveness and vivid imagination. What this means in practice is that they can both design a brilliant plan and execute it.
Click here for the full description of my personality type - it explains a lot.  And if you want to take the test and find out your type then click here.  

3

While we are on the subject of personality types I want to talk about Charlotte for a minute.  I've always said that her love language is "Acts of Service."  She loves to help and is always doing things for me.  But lately I've felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle.  I felt like I just wasn't connecting to her emotionally as well as I could be.

I thought about it for a while and finally decided that she shows love through service (like her Daddy), but that's not how she receives it.  She receives love through "Words of Affirmation."  I noticed that she loves to repeat praise that I give her.  She is always saying, "I a good helper" or "I a good sister."  And if I scold her she takes it really personally.  

I've been paying more attention to giving her praise and I feel like our relationship is a lot better.  

4

Thinking about Charlotte's love language led me to re-evaluate mine.  Back when I read the 5 Love Languages book over 10 years ago I decided that I was a "quality time" type of person.  But now I'm thinking I might be a "Words of Affirmation" type too.  

I know that I love hearing praise from people.  I'll think about nice things people have said about me over and over again.  And I always need Brandon to tell me that I am doing a good job.  I think the lack of feedback from other adults has been the hardest thing about being a stay at home mom.  It's probably why I love blog/facebook comments so much (hint hint).

(Full disclosure: I just took the test on the 5 love languages site and Words of Affirmation did come out slightly higher than Time - but only slightly.  Take the test yourself here.)

5

The kids and I have gone to story time at the city library for two weeks in a row now.  The girls are so much better behaved than they were a year ago when "the easel incident" occurred.  In Bountiful the girls used to wander around the room while all the other moms stared at my three kids while sitting peacefully with their one child (that's how it felt).  

Here there are lots of kids and they all wander to various degrees.  The program itself is also more accommodating to young people.  There is always a craft, and they have a puzzle area set up for kids that just can't pay attention the whole time.

The girls like to start out sitting by my chair (chairs for moms is another improvement over the Bountiful storytime), but they usually migrate to the back of the room and start playing with the craft stuff or the puzzles.  Derrick wanders the whole time, but he loves to occationally go up to the main little rug area and sit with all the kids.  He'll just plop down on the floor like, "hey I'm here, entertain me."

6

Speaking of Derrick, I feel like he has crossed over from being a "baby" to being a "little boy."  He still isn't talking, but he's able to understand a lot.  The other day I sang him the song "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and he raised his hands up above his head for the "Up came the Sun" part.  I was so excited that he knew some actions.  So I sung a bunch of other songs to see what he would do.  He knew all the actions to Pop Corn Popping and he clapped at the end of every song.  I think he's been learning a lot in nursery.  

He also loves the song "Jesus Wants Me for a Sun Beam."  He'll jump every time I say the word beam.  Well, at least try to jump.  He'll crouch down and then stand up really fast and throw his hands up in the air.  But his feet never actually leave the ground.  It is so cute and I've been trying to film it for weeks.  

7

On Tuesday I took the kids to Hobby Lobby so we could buy a pattern for the girls' Halloween costumes (and 'cause I thought a little bit of anxiety might get labor going for me).  I put Derrick in the cart, but the girls were allowed to walk.  I was so worried about what they would do when they saw all those cute yet oh so fragile displays.  I told them this was a store where we could only look at things - that we couldn't touch them AT ALL.  And the girls didn't touch anything at all.  I was so impressed and so proud.  And I made sure to tell them that over and over again.

I'd done my research for what pattern we needed so I just had to grab that.  I thought we'd make a quick retreat to the cash registers right after that, but the girls were doing so well that we actually walked around and looked at things.  The girls continued to keep their hands to themselves even when we passed a whole display of nothing but snowmen.  

The magic continued at the checkout counter.  The girls could see candy, but they didn't touch it. I kept reminding them that we had our own fruit snacks waiting for them in the car.  I said something along the lines of, "some people aren't prepared and they have to buy treats here, but we brought our own."  Which caused the people behind us in line to laugh. 

_

Well I better go back to sleep (it's 3:30 am right now).  Lindsey is talking about going home in the morning, and I think Brandon might actually have to go to work all day, so I'm probably going to be in charge of all the kids on my own again - unless this baby decides to get things moving soon.

False Alarm

People who study history have a saying that goes something like this, "You are always prepared for your last war."  Meaning, that a country will take measures to defend themselves based on what happened the last time they went to war.

I think the saying could be effectively used to describe pregnancy as "You are always prepared for your last labor."

For example, the twins were born 4 weeks early.  So I spent the last 4 weeks and 3 days of Derrick's pregnancy wondering when I was going to go into labor.  This time around I was mostly prepared to have another late baby.  Which has turned out to be true. But I also expected some other things to be the same that have been different.  For one, I thought I would be dilated to a 5 by now.

I also expected that I wouldn't have much pain but still know I was in labor, go to the hospital, and have a baby within a few hours.  I'm sure that's still an option, but last night I tried it out and it didn't work.  Here's the (somewhat) quick version of the story.

Around 7:00 pm I start having really tight Braxton-Hicks type contractions that give me some trouble with breathing.  They occur about every 8 to 5 minutes for an hour.  Brandon tells me he thinks we should call Lindsey and tell her it's time to come up from Houston.  I call Lindsey and tell her it might be baby time.  She's on the road within the hour.  I also text some of my neighbors to see if they would be able to sleep on my couch if we had to suddenly leave for the hospital.

Brandon and I take care of last minute things around the house like final bag packing and mopping the kitchen floor.  I continue to have contractions.

Around 11:00 the contractions haven't really gotten any more painful.  I consider maybe just staying home from the hospital and sleeping.  But then my right leg starts to swell up.  I've never had major swelling during any of my pregnancies so this concerns me.  I decide I better go to the hospital just in case something crazy is starting to happen.  Brandon also keeps reminding me that my contractions never hurt at the beginning of my other labors either.

Lindsey shows up with her kids around 11:30.  Brandon and I get her situated and then go to the hospital.

We arrive at the hospital around 12:00, but we don't get a room until after 1:00 am. (Apparently it was a pretty busy night.)  We spend the hour in the lobby watching CNN until we are incredibly sick of hearing about how the Navy Yard shooter had a DOD issued CatCard.

We were shown to a room right after we figured out how to turn off the lobby TV.  I get registered and a nurse asks me all sorts of questions.  Finally around 2:00 she checks my cervix.  In my past deliveries, this is the point where I'm usually told I'm dilated to a 5 or a 6 and everyone starts to believe that I really am in labor.

But this time I'm only at a 3 - maybe a 4.

I'm am however, having regular contractions (that I can hardly feel).  Nobody is concerned about my swelling foot/leg. The nurse leaves me hooked up on the monitors for an hour to see what happens.  Brandon and I watch Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin in the movie Housesitter on TV.  My contractions start to get stronger.  Around 2:45 they are beginning to be painful.

After an hour or so the nurse comes back in and checks my cervix for any progress.  I'm still at a 3 or 4.  My doctor happens to be around for another delivery and so he comes in to talk to me.  He decides to send me home in light of the fact that I haven't dilated, my water hasn't broken, and the contractions aren't coming close together.

I'm okay with being sent home because it's a better alternative to being hooked up to pitocin to keep things going.  I'm also hungry and as a patient the hospital wont let me eat.  The final motivation for going home is that both Brandon and I are exhausted. (Brandon's been up for almost 24 hours at this point.)  We just want our own bed.

The doctor says I can have a shot of morphine to help with the pain.  I'm all for that because I LOVED the morphine that was in my spinal block when I had the twins.  So the nurse shoots my arm up with that.  Then she leaves to finish up my discharge paperwork (I still get discharged even though I was never really "admitted.")

We finish watching Housesitter while we wait.  It turns out to be a really long wait because there was some sort of emergency with another patient that had to be rushed to the OR.  The morphine makes me really lightheaded and I feel like "my brain is cross-eyed."  I also stop feeling the contractions.  

Around 4:30 my paperwork is done and we can leave.  We go back home and fall asleep.  The doctor told me to come back in around 8:00 if I was still having contractions.  But when I wake up I don't feel anything.  I wake up and help Lindsey with the kids while Brandon sleeps. (He got the day off because he'd been at the hospital all night and because we were expecting to go back later.)

The kids all have a great time playing together.

Random observation: Somehow Derrick never ends up in the pictures with the other 4 kids.

My contractions never really come back.  This bugs me because I really want to have the baby!  I feel bad because Lindsey came all this way to watch the kids and now I feel like I'm just wasting her time (she keeps reassuring me that she doesn't mind.)

We start googling funny ways to start labor.  (Check out this hilarious commentary on all the "usual methods")  Lindsey's mother in law is a labor and delivery nurse and Lindsey remembers one of her suggestions.  We heat up rice in a sock and put it on my chest.  This actually works!  The contractions come back, but they never are regular or very intense.

Brandon runs a few errands and then he comes home and he and Lindsey make philly cheese steaks for all of us.

At the end of the day it's pretty apparent that nothings happening.  But at least the cousins are having a good time together.

Tonight when Brandon said the family prayer he said something like, "bless that we will all sleep well tonight, and bless that Valerie will have the baby soon."  I teased him and said, "Heavenly Father is probably up there saying, "Um you can only have one or the other."  It will be interesting to see which one ends up happening tonight.  (So far it's looking like we will all be sleeping well.)

Things work out

I'll be full term tomorrow!  Here is how I looked before church yesterday.

Don't be fooled, that's not how I usually look.  Most days I look more like this: 

No make up, hair pulled up (that's how I've been able to stand growing it out), yoga pants, and a shirt that hopefully covers my belly (I only have about 5 that still do.) 

I wouldn't say these past 40 weeks have flown by, but they have seemed to go by rather fast.  Last night I was re-reading the post where I announced I was pregnant with Baby D.  When I found out I was pregnant I had three main concerns that scared me:

1. I was going to have FOUR children under the age of three for at least a couple months, 

2. We needed to buy a new car, and 

3. This baby would be born after Brandon was deployed to Korea.

Over time each of these concerns have been resolved.  

1. I'll still have 4 kids under 3 years old for about 6 weeks, but at least I wont have 4 babies. The kids have all grown up a lot since the beginning of the year.  The three older kids are all bottle and binkie free.  They all sleep through the night (most nights).  They all walk.  The girls speak in mostly full sentences and can carry on conversations.  The girls aren't fully potty trained, but they are getting there.  Overall having 4 under 3 should be a lot easier than 3 under 18 months was.

2.  We bought a second car, which we probably would have done anyway.  We live in kind of an isolated area.  The only way out of our neighborhood is a huge 75 mph highway.  I need a car of my own to run errands and take the kids out of the house during the day.  Also when the jeep broke down last month it was only a minor inconvenience instead of a huge catastrophe.

3. Brandon didn't get deployed to Korea!!!!!!  I am still so grateful for this.  I don't know what we would have done if the deployment didn't get cancelled.

All weekend long I had to keep reminding myself to be happy that Brandon wasn't in Korea - other wise I would have been upset because he was scheduled to go back out into the field for a week long training starting today.  

We'd thought he was going to get out of the EIB training and testing the next two weeks because of his overextended foot/my due date.  But on Thursday he was told that he still had to go.  I was not looking forward to being alone, in charge of 3 kids, and 40 weeks pregnant.  I also was really nervous about the fact that Brandon would be bused to the training site.  That meant if I went into labor he would have to depend on someone else to give him a ride back to his car.

So we spent the weekend trying everything we could to put me into labor.  Walking, vacuuming, picking up toys while doing squats, sex, getting a blessing, calling Cheysi (talking to her kicked off labor with the girls), asking family members to pray, and even something called "curb walking" (walking along a curb with one foot on the curb and the other in the gutter.)  

Nothing worked and so late last night Brandon sadly packed his bags for training.  Early this morning he kissed me good bye.  It was the first time I've ever been upset that he had to go do an Army thing.  

I had a Doctor's appointment scheduled for later today, and our plan was that I'd ask for an induction.  That way I could make sure Brandon was available when I went into labor.  I wasn't thrilled about the idea of an induction, but I was even less thrilled about going into labor and not having Brandon around.  

Fortunately things turned out a little differently.  Brandon decided to try to remind his supervisors again that this was not a good time for him to be going into the field.  Two minutes before he had to get on the bus he told his Sergeant that I was due TOMORROW.  His sergeant acted like this was new news, but he also told Brandon to go report to the "Rear Detachment" (the group of soldiers who stay behind and take care of things at company headquarters.)  Needless to say, Brandon was thrilled at this news. (And so was I when he came back home and surprised me.)

So later when I went to my doctor's appointment I didn't need to ask about being induced.  The doctor actually asked me, and I told him we could talk about it next week if I was still pregnant.  I think he was happy about that because everybody else in the office seemed to want to be induced today.  (One couple had a father who will be leaving for basic training soon and they are hoping to have the baby before daddy leaves - I don't want to even imagine what that kind of pressure would be like.)

I'm dilated to a 3 (at least I have SOMETHING to show for this weekend besides an extra clean house.)  They had me do a non stress test and I didn't have a single contraction the entire time, so nothing seems to be happening - for now.  I'm feeling okay.  Even though I would LOVE to have this baby soon, I'm not super anxious for it to happen.  I'm still just so happy that Brandon will be nearby every day and home every night.  

In related news, we sold the triple stroller.  I've had it listed on Craigslist for about a month.  On Saturday a lady texted me with an acceptable offer.  We met up and she bought the stroller.  The lady that bought it runs a daycare so I know the stroller will get a lot of use. I was sad to see the stroller go, but it just wont work with the cargo space of the Honda/four kids.  Lydia was very sad to say goodbye to the stroller, but once I told her that we will get a wagon it was all she could talk about.  She even yelled out of the car, "I go buy a wagon now?" while we showed the stroller features to the new owner.

And here are some pictures that were on the camera.  Brandon spent some time on Saturday fixing furniture.  He tightened screws on the toy room storage shelves.  When he was done Lydia moved in and turned it into her territory.  This is what I saw when I walked by.     

Like I said I vacuumed a lot this weekend (Derrick was so happy.)  When I was done Charlotte took over the vacuum and pretended it was a playground for a little dinosaur that she'd been playing with all weekend.

And finally here is a little picture of something I found in the toy room after the kids were asleep.  I call it, "Even Santa needs a break."

Twinkies - More fun to say than to eat

Before starting each weekend Brandon's unit does a safety briefing where everyone is warned of the dangers of driving/boating/dating under the influence of alcohol.  Brandon always wishes there was some sort of "I don't drink - EVER" box he could check to get out of the briefing each week, but there's not, so he has to listen to it.  

Brandon also has to tell his team leader what his plans for the weekend include.  He's earned quite the reputation for being a pretty boring guy.  Usually his weekend plans are something along the lines of "hang out in town with the family."  This weekend he was very excited that his plans included, "Go to the park and eat Twinkies." Oh the adventures of a father with young kids.  

The whole eating Twinkies thing came about because of the movie Wall-E.  My Dad brought Wall-E out for movie night when he came to visit.  He left it with us and it has quickly become one of the kids' favorite movies.  I'm in love with it too because Andrew Stanton wrote and directed it - which means it's brilliant.  We watch it about once a day.  

Anyway, in case you haven't seen Wall-E, it's about a robot who is cleaning up trash on earth while all the people are waiting in space for the planet to be hospitable to life again.  It's been 700 years and Wall-E is still doing his job.  The beginning of the movie shows him all alone except for a cockroach.  At one point Wall-E opens up a Twinkie for the cockroach - which is a subtle joke about how Twinkies are still preserved even after 700 years.

The girls are super curious about everything they see so naturally they started asking me what the Twinkie was.  I told them it was a cookie which only made them more interested.  Then I remembered that Hostess is back in business and so we could actually HAVE Twinkies.  So I promised the girls that we would buy some Twinkies one day.

Charlotte loved the sound of the word Twinkie so she made sure we talked about Twinkies a lot so she could have the chance to say it over and over again.  She'd say, "TWINK-EE" and then laugh.    

Friday ended up being a day off for Brandon so we decided that we'd make time to go to the park and eat Twinkies.  This was our ONLY plan for the weekend which is an example of how draining the last few days of a pregnancy can be.  I mean our camping trip 6 or so weeks ago didn't seem as hard this trip felt.  Packing a picnic lunch, putting the picnic blanket in the car, and driving to the park all seemed like so much work.   (It didn't help that the kids had all been up at annoying times during the night and that Brandon had basically been up since 3:00 am because Lydia wouldn't go back to sleep.)

Anyway, we made it to the park and tried to get the kids to eat something healthy first.  The girl's had fallen asleep in the car and so they were pretty groggy.  Charlotte just laid on the bench and kept saying that she didn't feel very well.

But then we got out the Twinkies and she sat up for that.

I'm not sure what the girls were expecting Twinkies to be like, but they seemed a little underwhelmed by them.  Charlotte took maybe 2 bites of hers and then licked out some of the filling.  Lydia took a long time to eat hers.

Derrick didn't even notice we were eating Twinkies at first.  He was having enough fun with all the rocks and dirt.

Lydia moved over by Brandon and kept working on her Twinkie.

Derrick eventually noticed the food and came over to get some.  He loved the Twinkies and ate his two really fast.

Brandon and I remarked that the Twinkies didn't taste as good as we remember.  We decided that was because we were also eating apples and nectarines which were A LOT sweeter and more full of flavor than the Twinkies.

That was basically it for the "adventure."  No one complained when we got back in the car and drove home.  It was worth it though.  Later Charlotte, who'd only had two bites of her Twinkie, kept telling me, "I like Twinkies."  (I think she just likes to say the word.)

Blah

So I want to do a post about my how I'm feeling this last little bit of this pregnancy, but I'm having trouble figuring out what to say.  I've seriously re-written this first sentence like 50 times.  I don't want to seem too whiny, but I don't want to come across as too chipper either.  Here are a bunch of my random back and forth thoughts and emotions.

I guess mostly I'm just done.  Done with feeling like I have a bowling ball in my stomach.  Done with getting jabbed by Baby D's heels (she's not a kicker she's a stretcher).  Done with wondering when I'm going to go into labor.  Done with taking care of the kids. Done with being tired.  Done with heartburn. Done with back pain.  Done with pregnancy.

But I'm not exactly ready to have a newborn either.

I'm not looking forward to late night feedings.  I'm not looking forward to tons of newborn diapers (though the girls are fascinated by the idea of "lellow poo.")  I'm not looking forward to having to carry a baby around everywhere.  And let's just pray that she wants nothing to do with a binkie.

But I am interested in meeting this little determined daughter of mine.  And if she has to come as a newborn, then well I guess that's where we will start.  It can only go up from there - right?

* * *

As of my doctors appointment on Friday I was only dilated to a one.  I was pretty annoyed at that because I'd been having little contractions all week and I was hoping to have more to show for them.  But instead I was just at a one - blah.

If I go into labor today we might have a Patriot's Day (September 11th) baby - that would be interesting and oddly symbolic of this year of our lives. Other options are a Friday the 13th baby, or even a Constitution Day (September 17th) baby.  If I go late - like I did with Derrick - I might even have the baby on my Dad's birthday (September 21st) which would be cool.  

* * *

Brandon had overnight training scheduled for last night and tonight.  But he didn't have to go because he overextended his foot on a 10 mile ruck march last Thursday.  The medic put him on a no running, no rucking, no real exertion that could hurt his foot medical profile for two weeks. YAY!  It gets him out of two weeks of overnight stuff for EIB (Expert Infantryman Badge) later this month too. (Apparently the training and testing are pretty rigorous and he didn't think he'd earn it anyway.) Instead he's on a building crew putting together "shoot houses" for EIB.  He's having a great time using tools and working with his hands.  He's enjoying it so much that he keeps telling me that I can't go into labor until his profile is over on the 20th.

* * * 

Derrick came late and part of me has accepted the fact that this baby probably will too.  But I still keep holding out hope that she'll come sooner.  I'm looking forward to the mini-vacation that the hospital provides.  Of course I have to go through labor to get to that vacation, but hey at least the kids will be out of my hair.  

Yesterday I found the guidebook from the labor and delivery class I took for Derrick.  I read over it and was like, "Oh yeah. I remember these words.  Transition, crowning, epidural, placenta."

Part of me kind of wants to do this labor naturally.  I think it would be cool to be able to compare a C-section, an epidural V-BAC, and a natural V-BAC.  But I haven't done anything to prepare for that. (Yesterday when I was reading the book I was like, "so breathing helps you relax, good to know.") 

So in reality my goal is to do another V-BAC - I don't really care how.  I'd like to avoid pitocin this time around just to see if that makes the pain less intense, but I'm not against using it.   

* * * 

Derrick was pretty sick this weekend.  If our doctor's office was open on Sundays I would have taken him in.  But he was better by Monday so I didn't take him.  He wanted me to hold him all weekend.  I liked snuggling with him.  I'm kind of sad that he is getting replaced as my "baby."  He has no clue what is coming and I feel bad for him in a way.  

Charlotte and Lydia love to talk about Veronica, but I'm not sure if they fully understand that there is going to be a new little person around here.  Heck, I don't think I fully grasp it yet!  

They have pretended to have babies in their tummies this whole pregnancy.  They will even sometimes pretend to have sore backs or need to throw up.  

They love to lift up my shirt and play with my tummy.  Lydia will ask, "I wake up Veronica?" and then push on my belly.  They also love to blow raspberries on my skin.  Somehow though they have never felt Veronica move. 

* * * 

I would post a picture of how I look at 39 weeks, but we didn't take one.  Thanks to Derrick's illness this weekend none of us went to church on Sunday.  Which means I didn't get all dressed up and put on makeup.  Which means that I didn't feel like having a picture taken.  

* * * 

Brandon has been a big help as always.  He came home early on Thursday and sent me to my room for a nap.  I woke up to an empty house with dinner in the fridge.  Brandon had taken the kids to a nearby town and didn't get home for hours.  It took me a while to figure out what to do with the alone time. It was great to be bored.  I'm so glad I have a husband who doesn't mind taking care of the kids.

* * *

I've been nesting in the sense that I don't want to leave the house.  We hardly even go to the park anymore.  The kids have started fighting over the baby swing and Derrick thinks it's funny to run away from me.  I keep telling him that in 8 weeks I will chase him to his hearts content, but I can't do it right now.  

Yesterday I woke up with a desire to get ALL the laundry done.  And I spent all day doing that.  I even got it all put away.  So that was a big nesting day.

* * * 

Well that's about it.  I'm afraid I'll spend forever re-writing this final sentence so I'll just finish by saying that it would be really cool if my next post was a birth announcement.  

Dumbo and the Peepees

This isn't a picture of the toy room.  It's MY room.   When Brandon is gone my room just kind of turns into another play room.  Ug. This picture was taken at some point while he was at gunnery in August.  

My Dad was still visiting the day that Brandon went to gunnery.  Somehow we all ended up in the playroom and somehow I thought it would be a good idea to pull all the toys out of "toy prison."  (It's supposed to be a rotating toy "library," but let's not kid ourselves here.)  So the whole time Brandon was gone ALL the toys were free to be scattered around the house.  The kids had a blast, but I was going crazy.  This is what the toy room looked like most of the time.  Keep in mind half the toys are elsewhere in the house (my room, the living room).

Once Brandon came back home we made "hide half the toys back in the window seat" one of our high priorities.  This is what the toy room looked like today.  Some of the toys are in the living room on the floor, but you can see what a difference boxing up half the toys makes.

The girls really haven't noticed that half the toys are missing again.  That's mostly because I pay attention to which toys they actually care about, as opposed to the ones they just play with for a second.  The ones with special status obviously get to stay out of prison for this go around.  

I thought I'd do a post about what toys the kids play with - especially since they aren't the toys that would normally come to mind.  

Let's start with Dumbo.  Here is a picture of Charlotte with Dumbo.  

No, I didn't upload the wrong picture - that golf ball is named Dumbo.  (Before being named Dumbo this ball has a life as Charlotte's "soccer ball.")  I have no clue why this ball is named Dumbo, but that's it's name.  Charlotte will come up to me and ask me, "where's Dumbo" and I will help her find him.  He also has a "Mommy and a Daddy" who are also balls - just bigger.  Charlotte will act out scenes from the movie Dumbo with this ball.  The only problem with Dumbo is that Derrick doesn't understand that he's not a ball.  You can imagine the drama that ensues when Charlotte catches Derrick throwing Dumbo around the house.

Charlotte also has her "Peepees."  Baby Peepee is this little Mrs Potts toy from a Beauty and the Beast toy collection.  Again, I don't know how she got that name.  She also happens to be a boy now.  Mommy and Daddy Peepee are rubber duckies who apparently believe in adoption.  Somehow I don't have a picture of the whole Peepee family, but here is Charlotte holding up Baby PeePee and Grandpa Peepee who is also a rubber ducky.  Ever since my Dad came to visit the girls have made sure that all their little families have "Grandpa ones" in addition to "Mommy one and Daddy one and Baby one."

Lydia goes along with all of Charlotte's names and family relationships for the various toys.  But when she does her pretending she tends to be a bit more conventional.  She has about 6 baby dolls that she is the Mommy to.  Well actually she's the Mommy to the 4 biggest, while two of those babies have their own babies as well.  She's always asking me to swaddle her babies in blankets or bandannas and then she'll put them to bed.  Yesterday she had me sit in on "bedtime" while she did "scibbers and payers."   She said, "And it cama passssss" when she read the scriptures.  

  For a while there I was pretty certain the girls could read my mind.  I'd notice a toy that they hadn't shown much interest in lately.  I'd make a mental note to box that toy up as soon as I had a chance.  Then, next thing I'd know I'd find the girls creating an elaborate game with that toy.  Case in point, here is Charlotte making slides out of foam blocks so her "people" (we'll talk about those in a minute) can slide on them before flying in the airplane.  Not 10 minutes before this picture was taken I was planning on boxing up the soft blocks.  (I still did because Charlotte didn't show any interest in them later.)

Here are the kids vegging out in front of a movie.  Despite their glazed over looks I feel like they actually benefit from the movies we watch.  I often find the girls acting out scenes from different movies with each other and their toys.  And they are starting to learn the words to the "Hello Dolly" songs that are on Wall-e.  That counts as culture right?

Okay lets talk about Charlotte's "people."  I have this little internal debate about the kids' toys.  On the one hand I think it's awesome that the girls have great imaginations and can pretend that something is different from what it really is.  But on the other hand I wonder if it would enhance their play if they actually had some real stuff to work with.  The "people" are a prime example of this.

Take a look at this picture.  Ignore the fact that the girls are asleep in the hall - some nights I'm just happy they fall asleep, I don't care where it happens. Take a look at the little row of blocks on the stairs.  Those are Charlotte's "people."  These ones are special in that this is actually our family.  There is a Mommy, Daddy, Charlotte, Lydia, and Derrick one.  Charlotte carried them around for several hours and played with them like they were our family.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so I love it when the girls "write in jornals."  Brandon took this picture of the girls writing in their journals while I wrote in their real ones.  The girls are always carrying around notebooks and pens and scribbling in them.  Lydia is especially good at filling each line with careful little scribbles.

And check it out, Charlotte actually smiled for a picture!

When we first moved here it took about 3 weeks for all our stuff to show up.  We had some toys, but not all of them.  Fortunately we had the cooler which is apparently the coolest toy ever.  Charlotte always wants to play with it when we get it out for a camping trip.  A little while ago she figured out where we store it.  She asked me to get it out for her, and since this was after half the toys were back in prison I said yes.

Charlotte likes to put Dumbo, the Peepee's, her "aminals," her "people," and whatever other toy is special into the cooler and push it around.  Sometimes she pretends it is a shopping cart and that they are all grocery shopping.  I'll hear her pretend to get milk, and eggs, and cereal, and juice and put them into her cart.  Here she is getting the Peepee's out of their "house" which is really my cupboard's lazy Susan.

Derrick isn't left out in the weird toy department.  He is OBSESSED with the vacuum.  He can open doors and so he is always opening the closet door and pulling out the vacuum. Then he repeats, "Ahdoo" which is his word for vacuum while following me around.  He'll do this many, many times each day.  I think he did it at least 10 times today - and that was AFTER we'd vacuumed every room in the house.  He always cries when I turn off the vacuum.

Charlotte recently added "cowie" to her list of favorite toys.  Here he is asleep in his bed in the doll house.  (I think the book was the song book for scriptures and prayers.)

These are Lydia's "cookies."  She always takes two blocks and puts them together and calls them her cookies.  She'll grab whatever book is nearby to use as her "recipe." She follows the recipe and says things like, "one teaspoon, what's next hummm, one cup." She pretends to cook them in the oven which is really the drawer of my bedside table. Then she hands out the cookies and you better let her know how good her cookies taste.

This isn't of a toy, but it was still fun.  This is from the day I showed the girls what finger nail polish is. They were so excited.  (BTW I think it's been two weeks since I could get my wedding ring off. I will be so happy when I'm not pregnant anymore.)  

There are so many other toys that the girls love.  But I didn't get pictures of them all so you can just imagine what these are like:

• Charlotte has added a dog to the Peepee family.  It's actually a hippo. 
• All my bathroom bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and so on have been assigned a family rank.  The girls are always taking them out of the shower and putting them to bed in my bathroom cupboard.  
• We have a mommy firetruck and a baby firetruck.  (This is another area where Derrick and the girls have misunderstanding about how to play with the toys.)
• Lydia is really good at folding.  She loves to fold anything.  She has some little squares of fabric that she calls her "laundry."  She also likes to take my wash cloths and calls them her "baby cloths."  If she is really devious and sneaky she will empty a whole pack of wet wipes just so she can fold them all.  I'm devious in my own way and will leave a pile of kitchen wash clothes out in the open - she can't resist folding them.  
• We have a teapot that the girls call their "teasp." They love to put water in it and then pour the water into cups.
• Charlotte has two real reindeer that she calls her Bambies. One is the Mommy one and one is the Baby one. There is also a "tender Daddy one." ("Tender" is how she says pretend and I think it is the cutest thing ever!)  

Anyway, thanks for paying attention to all the silly things my kids do.  I love watching their imaginations grow.  But don't assume that I spend all my time following them around and watching them play.  I try to ignore them a lot too.  Here is what happened to Lydia when both she and I were just to tired to deal with whatever she needed.    

Yep, fast asleep on the kitchen floor.

And look what I made during her meltdown/nap.  Dinner!  With color! And more than two ingredients!  Brandon and I have been working on meal planning and such.  But that is a post for another day (once we've figured out all the little kinks.)

My love affair with simplicity

You may have noticed that I don't like to get myself into complicated situations.  With three - soon to be four - kids in tow I can't afford to over-commit myself emotionally or physically.

But this isn't something that I developed after becoming a mom.  I've tried to keep my life relatively simple almost my whole adult life.  Years ago I was given this advise: "When things are simple and uncomplicated then you will know that they are right." I've tried to follow that direction ever since.

It's important to know that making sure things are simple and uncomplicated doesn't necessarily mean they have to be "easy."  Easy is sometimes a byproduct, but it's not a requirement.

Simple things can still take a lot of work to pull off, but all that work is focused on one goal instead of being spread around.  

I thought I would make a list of ways I keep life simple, but here's some irony for you - making a list of simple things seems too complicated for today.  Instead here is the story of how I learned the lesson to do things that are simple and uncomplicated.

Years ago I got stuck in limbo while trying to transfer from Snow College to Utah State University.  I'd registered for the Spring semester at USU, but ended up deciding to stay at Snow for that semester instead.  I thought I'd done everything right to hold my enrollment for Fall semester but somehow everything got screwed up and I had to reapply for admission all over again (this should have been my first clue that I would't like USU as an institution.)

The reapplication process took a long time to get resolved.  In the meantime I stayed in Ephraim for the summer and worked for Snow College as a Youth Conference Counselor.

At some point during that summer I went to my Bishop for a blessing.  I felt like I needed some guidance in my life.  He gave me a blessing.  The part that really stuck out to me was when he said, "When things are simple and uncomplicated then you will know that they are right."

A little while later I helped with a Youth Conference group that had a cute single guy as one of the leaders.  All the other leaders in his ward tried to convince him to interact with me.  Over the weekend we said maybe 50 words to each other.

But a week later I was still thinking about him.  I was out in the field picking up water balloons after the water activities, and I let my mind wander along these lines. "I wonder if I would run back into that guy if I lived in Salt Lake. . . I wonder if he goes to Salt Lake Community College . . . I wonder if I went to the community college if I would run into him . . . Hum, maybe I should look into the community college."

As soon as I got off work I went to the campus library and looked up info about Salt Lake Community College.  With my application to USU still in limbo, a semester at the Community College seemed like a really good thing to do in the meantime.  I could take a lot of the same classes that I was planning to take at USU.  Plus the classes would be at better times, would be smaller, and cheaper.  The only downsides were that I wouldn't get financial aid because I wouldn't be pursuing a degree, and that I'd have to move back home with my parents - something that I wasn't interested in doing ever again.

I forgot all about the guy, but kept thinking about the school.  I thought about maybe getting another blessing, but then I decided to pay attention to the one I'd already had.  The phrase, "when things are simple and uncomplicated then you will know that they are right," kept running through my mind.  USU was very complicated at the moment.  The Community College seemed very simple.

I mentioned my interest in the community college to my Aunt Vera at the next family get together.  She'd been a student at the community college for years.  She listed off a ton of really great things about the college.  She even offered to let me live with her if I needed to.  That was the final incentive I needed.  Within a few days I applied and was accepted as a student.  (I wouldn't hear from USU until 3 weeks after the school year had already started.)

I continued to follow the advise of "when things are simple and uncomplicated then you will know that they are right" as I signed up for my classes.  At first I thought I'd take some classes at the main Redwood Campus and then some other's at the campus near Vera's house.  But I decided to keep things simple and only attend one campus.

This later proved to be a very good decision.  In one of my accounting classes we were told about a free course in Tax preparation offered through H and R Block.  The class fit perfectly into my schedule.  I couldn't have planned it out better.  Thanks to that class I was able to work for H and R Block during the next tax season.

I saw how keeping things simple and uncomplicated had led to blessings.  In the years since then I have tried to continue to follow that advise.  I can tell you that things always go better when I try to reduce the amount of distractions and clutter in my life.

(And maybe one day I'll get around to making a list for you all.)