A Tired Mom

2011-01-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I have posted here. I am up to pretty much the same thing. Homeschooling and raising 6 kids. This last year we put away the baby crib and potty trained our baby. I can't believe my baby is two. I am looking forward to a good year with some fun. I will post some pictures in a few days. I have to find the cord to the camera. I really hate all the cords we have to have these days.

Girl's Yearly Night out.

2010-04-30T16:09:00.000-07:00

Every year, when the boys do the Father and Son's camp-out, we do a night out for the girls. One of our traditions is to go to Olive Garden. Our other activities varies each year. This year our fun was cut short when someone rear ended us. She tried to tell us she was only going 5 miles and hour. Yeah right. We still went out to eat and the girls had fun. But I decided to cut our out activities because I probably shouldn't be driving the car around in its current condition. The great thing is that I get to tell Jaren tomorrow what happened because he was already gone when it happened.

Tucson Zoo With Friends

2010-04-26T10:49:00.001-07:00

This is Addison with his best friend. He misses him so much.

Liam with his good friend.

Another picture of Addison with his best friend.

Nathaniel with his best friend.

These are our friends that met us at the Zoo.

When we went to Arizona, we arranged to see some of our friends at the zoo. It is the zoo where all of my kids go for their first visit. So Aimee needed to go there for her first visit. And then of course I didn't take any pictures of her. She loved the animals. She learned to point there. The most disturbing thing is we watched a bird eat a baby duck. It made me really sad. Jaren found it cool. The nicest thing is that Addison wanted to surprise his best friend. And his best friends mom is wonderful and kept it a surprise and only told him they were meeting friends at the zoo. It was great to see their joy at seeing each other. All of my kids were happy to see all of their friends while we were there. I feel blessed about the friends my kids have. They are a blessing to their lives.

Our trip to Arizona at my mom's house

2010-04-26T10:22:00.001-07:00

I am afraid of heights. Seriously afraid of heights. when my children do this, I want to throw up. They find it funny.

Of course the kids had to sit on the wall.

We saw a man panning for gold.

Aunt Jessica, Uncle John with two of their kids.

My kids with John's kids

This is me with my little brother John and our two youngest.

Aimee actually enjoyed the mountains.

Jaren and I are so different. He lets her walk, I would have carried her.

Huachuca mountains

My kids in front of the Huachuca mountains at my parents house.

We spent about 5 days in Sierra Vista. It was fun for my kids. We had a lot of fun with John and Jessica. We went to Arizona for their sealing. I love that my kids have so many fun cousins to hang out with. Cousins that are being raised in a way that you know they will be a good influence on my kids. And getting to be with my brothers was awesome.

Liam is six

2009-10-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Liam loves to joke around and be silly. He came down to have a good time and help everyone around him have a good time. He got these silly glasses from his Nana. She knows him well. In the last year his speech has improved so much. He has been extremely patient with his speech therapist and with me. He has never once fussed about having his speech corrected or having to say things over several times. He is amazing. And now people can even understand him on the phone. When the Sahuarita Stake was made, he got to shake Elder Anderson's hand and talk to him. I was so happy when the apostle understood what Liam said to him. Liam is a great helper. He is very thoughtful of others and prays for me every night that I won't have nightmares. I can't wait to see the person he is going to become.

My oldest Lovey is 12!

2009-10-05T19:50:00.001-07:00

My son is actually taller than he appears in the picture. I am wearing my "I am not a mom" shoes. I guess I should actually say that I am shorter than I appear in the picture.

When I asked Nathaniel what he wanted for his birthday, first thing on his list was to go to the Temple and do Baptisms for the dead. So we arranged everything so that he could go to the Dallas Temple on his birthday. He was given the Aaronic priesthood at our Bishop's work. Then we took him out to dinner and to the Temple. We had a wonderful time. Jaren baptized both of us for people who have passed on so that they would have the opportunity to accept the gospel if they want to. The Temple president is a member of the quorum of the seventy and spoke with all the youth there. He told them that we are older than the stars. Nathaniel is very excited that he gets to pass the sacrament and collect fast offerings. I am excited and nervous about the teenage years which are coming. But I am so grateful for the testimony my son already has. I know that his testimony of Jesus Christ will pull him through whatever trials and troubles he will face in his life because my testimony Of Jesus Christ has done that for me.

Alyssa's Baptism

2009-10-05T19:40:00.001-07:00

Well, our first beautiful daughter is 8. I can't believe how fast she has grown age wise. She had a wonderful baptism. She got baptized on Liam's birthday. September 5, 2009 will be easy to remember. She had her grandparents from Arizona, her grandparents from Del Rio, her Aunt And Uncle from Florida and two of her Aunts and Uncles from the Dallas area and an Uncle from the Del Rio area. I gave the talk on Baptism and Jaren gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. We also had a lot of fun shopping for a dress for her.

My Baby is One!

2009-08-05T15:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is one. The cute baby boy in the pictures actually kissed Aimee on the lips. It was very cute and sweet. He was always very sweet with her. I am sad that she is growing up so fast since she is my last.

The Aftermath Of The Recital.

2009-08-05T15:32:00.001-07:00

So because Liberty wore makeup for the dance recital, she became very interested in makeup. And of course at her first opportunity to get to my lipstick without me around she decided to put it on herself. I hope at 12 she is better at applying it than she is at three.

Another Dance performance

2009-08-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

This is the kid's dance teacher with most of the kids in the class.

This is Nathaniel with his dance partner.

Here you can see that Nathaniel has the hip thing going on which is important for ballroom dance.

For this performance Addison got to dance with Alyssa.

Addison told me on this day that he preferred having his sister for his partner because it didn't make him as nervous to perform with her. He said other girls make him very nervous. Nataniel really enjoyed his partner. They had a lot of fun together and became good friends. It was a lot of fun for a family activity.

Dance Recitals in May

2009-08-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here is Nathaniel with his dance partner. He fell in love with ballroom dance this last year.

Here is Addison with his partner.

This is Alyssa with her partner, one of the teachers.

This is the kids all in their costumes for their dance recital. It was a lot of fun to watch them all perform. Nana, Grandpa and Uncle Jacob came to watch too.

This is Liam, He got to be the prince.

Here is Liam and Liberty's dance class.

This is Liberty. She is a princess.

This is Liberty putting on her shoes to go to the recital.

Alyssa, Addison, and Nathaniel did the Chacha. Their routine was to Alvin and the Chipmunks. Nathaniel was Simon. They loved dancing. Nathaniel and Addison also participated in a ballroom competition. Both the boys took first place in one of the heats. Nathaniel has asked that we continue with ballroom lessons for him here in Dallas. I am waiting to get settled to find a studio that does ballroom for children.
Liam and Liberty danced to A dream is a wish from Cinderella. Liam was quite excited to be the only prince. He actually really enjoyed going to dance every week. Although it took the girls a couple weeks to get used to having a boy in their class. We weren't quite sure that Liberty was going to dance since she refused to in class. But she did. Although it was quite apparent at stake conference that we had gone to a lot of performances. When the choir sang the last song she clapped her hands and yelled WOHOO!
Jaren and Alyssa did a father daughter dance that was just incredible. It brought tears to everyone's eyes.

Mr. Monkey

2009-03-21T22:45:00.001-07:00

With each of our children, we choose a stuffed animal before they are born to give to them at birth. With Aimee we choose a stuffed monkey. We loved his outie belly button. Aimee loves Mr. Monkey (that is what the kids and I call her monkey.). She sleeps with him all the time. When we lay her down she grabs Mr. Monkey and sticks her thumb in her mouth and is good to go.

Catus Kids Chorus

2009-03-21T22:30:00.001-07:00

In Febuary we have Rodeo week. Our neighborhood has a day that celebrates it. Our kids are in a choir that performed at the celebration. Nathaniel and Addison had solos. Alyssa had a duet. It was a lot of fun to watch them perform. They have a lot of other fun things to do there as well.

Updated pictures of our Food Storage

2009-03-05T09:07:00.001-08:00

So here are updated pictures of our stockpile/food storage. We have been working hard on it since November. I have to say coupons have helped us to build this incredably fast. I have pictures on here from a few months ago. What a difference. We have actually added one set of shelves into the food storage room and added shelves in the garage.

Addison Is 10!

2009-02-15T20:41:00.001-08:00

This is my favorite baby picture of Addison.
He really loved this bunny, but he wore it out and I had to buy him a new one, which he still has.

He loved getting up on the piano and playing for me.

He got that love from his daddy.

He was funny from the beginning.

This was taken when we lived in Texas. Everyone gets their picture taken in the Blue Bonnets there.

One of his gifts was a snap circuit set. He loves it. It is getting hard to buy them gifts as they get older.

Here he is at 10!

I can't believe he has turned 10. He loves to play the wii. His favorite games are Zelda and any of the Lego games. His best friend is Daniel. He loves to play with legos. He loves science especially if it is about space. He tested post high school for science on the Standford Achievement Test. He wants to be a Aero-Space Engineer. He plans on building the mothership. And I get the first ride. He has read the Book of Mormon. He is currently reading the Doctrine and Covenants. I caught him on the stairs praying the other day. He was asking for help with his chores. He is in a children's choir. He is also doing Ballroom dance. He has informed me for the purposes of this post that he isn't in love with anyone.

Girls are so much fun to dress.

2009-02-15T20:36:00.001-08:00

I love girl clothes. Maybe it is because with 8 brothers sometimes I got their hand me downs. I especially like cute dresses. Although I really hate how many dresses they sell without sleeves. Here is another cute picture of Aimee. I sure wish she would slow down with how fast she is growing. I found her on the floor playing with her sister's purse and her brother's army men. *SIGH* I am going to miss having babies.

Alyssa Has Finally Lost Some Teeth!

2009-02-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

Alyssa is so excited. she has finally lost her first two teeth. She has been feeling like everyone in the world except her has lost their teeth. She is 7 1/2 years old. So everyone else has. She is also in love with a boy. I asked her what she liked about him not realizing she was in love. She told me, "I like his strong muscles, I like the way he looks and I like his playfulness." I looked at her and thought, "where is my seven year old and can I have her back?" I guess it is only going to get worse from here with the boy thing. Also she is having eye surgery on Tuesday to fix the muscles in her left eye. They think she will need two surgeries.

Liberty Has Started Dance.

2009-02-01T21:33:00.001-08:00

Liberty has started dance. She is in Liam's class. For the recital they are doing a Cinderella song. So all of the girls are going to be in Blue ballet costumes. They are all excited to be princesses. Liam is absolutely stoked that he gets to be the only prince. Liberty so doesn't pay attention to what everyone else is doing for the dance. She does her own. It is pretty funny. Well like I told my other kids, she will probably be the kid kicking the drum across the floor at the recital.

My Baby Is Six Months Old!

2009-02-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that Aimee is now six months old. It makes me feel kind of sad. She is growing way to fast for me. *SIGH* Why didn't pregnancy ever go as fast. Jaren fed her chocolate chips tonight. Apparently she loves them. Jaren always feeds my kids stuff when I am not around. The first thing he usually gives them is green olive juice. YUCK! Aimee will grab his arm if he is eating something and she wants to try it. Aimee really loves all of her siblings. And they all love her. She makes it very clear when she wants one of them to hold her. She is a lot of fun. She is getting ready to crawl. She doesn't have any teeth yet. I am so grateful that God gave her to us. I am also grateful that God let us end on a live baby. I love my Aimee.

I am so excited!

2009-01-26T19:29:00.000-08:00

One subject that my children have is religion. For religion, 3 of my children are reading the Doctrine and Covenants, 2 of them are reading the book Putting on the armor of God. Today my oldest came to me excited about something he had learned. What he was excited about was learning that when Peter walked on water and started to sink he ask for help from Jesus. He didn't wait until he was up to his neck in water. He asked for help at the beginning of the problem. I found this so exciting that it touched him and in addition it was a perspective that I had never noticed. He sure is growing up.

Free stuff I got this past week using coupons

2009-01-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

I am trying to keep a record of this as I am supposed to teach a class for enrichment on couponing. So, this week was an awesome week for sales, let alone couponing.

51 bags of Green Giant Valley Steamers
20 packages of Kraft American cheese (which you can freeze by the way).
160 cans of Hormel Chili
20 bottles of Frank's hot sauce

It looks like this weekend I will be able to get 30 jars of salsa free and only pay 1 dollar a pound for cheese. I really should take new pictures of my food storage.

Nate and Christy

2009-01-24T06:38:00.001-08:00

This is my dad with Aimee. He came to pick up Nate and Christy.
Aunt Christy and Nathaniel

Uncle Nate and Liam

Uncle Nate and Nathaniel being boys.

Aunt Christy and Addison

Aunt Christy and Alyssa

Aimee and Uncle Nate

Aunt Christy and Liberty

Uncle Nate and Liberty playing the ukulele.

Nate and Christy visited us on their way to Nate's first base. He commisioned into the airforce as an officer. It was so much fun to visit with them. My kids absolutely adore them. By the way guys, thanks for standing in lines with me while I couponed and got loads of free stuff! I can't wait until next year when we come to Florida to visit you all. I am still bummed that we never made it to Hawaii in all the years you all lived there.

Jaren's Grandparents

2009-01-24T06:29:00.001-08:00

Jaren's grandparents came to visit us. It was absolutely wonderful. Only having ever had one grandparent in my life, they have shown me what it is like to have grandparents. They love everyone unconditionally. They have been a great example of the kind of grandparent I want to be. My kids actually know them better than they do Jaren's parents. We had a very lovely visit. I am sad that it was their last visit to Arizona. We hope to make a trip to New Mexico at some point to see them. Jaren's brother and his family came over too. Aimee was on the floor playing. She spit up and her cousin decided he needed to clean her up.

Free Stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

9 sour cream, 3 steamers vegetables, 2 box vegetables, 3 ready whip and 6 instant potatoes.

17 reynolds wrap, 12 sausages, 8 sour creams

26 cottonelle, 7 sour cream and 2pastry brushes

This is all the stuff I have gotten for free since I started using coupons. I have also gotten some great deals. I got 16 bottles of Ajax dish washing soap for 19 cents a bottle. Right now I am picking up colgate toothpaste for 30 something cents per tube. I am having a lot of fun doing this. I have found that every week there is at least one item that I can pick up for free. This Lady's websight is helping me a lot. http://www.thethriftymama.com/ Without her websight I wouldn't have known about the cottonelle since my local fry's doesn't carry the four pack. I had to go to one a bit farther away. She has also helped me with walgreens. The tinfoil and the toothpaste I got from walgreens. The great thing about walgreens is that you can combine a store coupon with a manufactures coupon.

Ballroom Dance Christmas program

2008-12-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

This is the whole ballroom dance group.

This is Alyssa with her dance partner.

This is Addison with his dance partner.

This is Nathaniel with his dance partner.

This year our oldest three children are taking ballroom dance. They love it. They are doing the Cha-cha. They have also joined a community choir. We decided it is time for them to start trying lots of different things to find what they like to do. The boys have told me they are now willing to take jazz and hip hop dance, but no ballet. I am so glad that we put them into ballroom.

Christmas Family Home Evening.

2008-12-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

This is our Christmas Angel.
One of our wisemen.

Joseph (Alyssa), Mary (Liam) and the donkey (Addison).

Mary, great with child.

Once a month we do family home evening with some of our friends from college. These are our kids acting out the Christmas story. It is a lot of fun to hang out once a month. The coolest thing is that all of our kids get along very well. And between three family we have 14 kids.

savings this week.

2008-11-20T08:21:00.001-08:00

I found this blog http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/ on Sunday night. She inspired me to go raid recycling bins for coupons on Monday morning. What a blessing. With coupons I bought 20 canisters of oatmeal for 1.50 a piece. I bought 19 granola bars for 1 dollar a piece. 2 crouton bags for .62 cents each , 16 sugar 15 of them at .50 cents and 1 at 1.50, 13 pam spray bottles for 1 dollar a bottle , 3 philidelphia cream cheese packages for .41 cents each and 2 butters for .50 cents. I also bought 3 Idahoan instant potatoes for free.

The croutons were on sale and I had a coupon for buy one get one free. The philidelphia cream cheese was on sale and Fry's was accepting competitors coupons which Albertson's had a coupon for buy one, get two free. With the Idahoan instant potatoes, they were on sale for 1 dollar. I found 3 coupons online. Two were for .40 cents off. One was .75 cents off the purchase of three. Fry's is quadrupling coupons to 1 dollar. So that is how I got them free. For all the groceries (plus some candy my daughter bought) I spent a total of 81 dollars and saved a total of 226.88.

More food storage

2008-11-07T20:25:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to tell everyone what I have added to my food storage this week.
10 tubes of toothpaste (1 dollar a piece.)
15 boxes of swiss miss hot cocoa (50 cents a piece.)
10 bottles of syrup (1 dollar a piece.)
20 boxes of baby wipes (2 dollars a piece.)
10 bottles of water 3 liter size (50 cents a piece.)
5 containers of icing (1 dollar a piece.)

I really need toliet paper to go on an awesome sale. What have you added this week? And what item would you really like to add next?

Food Storage

2008-11-02T07:24:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures that I have been promising to post of our food storage room. I love having a food storage room. I only wish that it was bigger. We are feeling very prompted to work on our food storage.

Zoo with cousins

2008-11-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

We went to the zoo with Aunt Jessica, Cory, Bryson and Dallin. Jaren even came with us. He hadn't been to the zoo with us in 5 years. It was a mistake to take him. The mistake I always make when I take Jaren someplace with the children and I, is that I assume he is going to help me keep track of the children. Of course being a man, he isn't actually keeping track of all the children. He is assuming that all of the children are staying with us on their own volition. We lined up at the front of the zoo. I bounced the baby and paid for us to go in. We get to the first exhibit (a tiger) I look around and I don't see Liberty(she is almost 3). I say to Jaren, where is Liberty. He says, "she is right here." I said, "I don't see her." He says, "well she can't be far." This is where I look at him and remind myself that he has not had as much experience with how far 3 years can move and how fast. (One of my friends daughters left the zoo and went over to the park when they lost her.) We start looking for her, (me frantically, him thinking she can't be far.) We finally find her outside the zoo by the entrance. She sees us and then starts to cry. Jaren turns to me and says, "See she is just fine, she didn't even miss us." I am thinking, "Did you miss the part where she started to cry when she saw us? Kids only do that when they were scared." I do a lot of thinking which is usually better than saying. At least it makes my husband happier. We had a great time With Jessica and her kids. Her kids teamed up with Addison for partners.

Aimee's baby blessing

2008-11-02T06:53:00.001-08:00

Aimee was blessed on September 7th 2008. My neighbor Vanessa made the cake. We had a lot fo people come. Here is the list. Nana and Grandpa Tilton, Uncle Jacob, Uncle John, Aunt Jessica and their three kids, Grandma Rogers, Uncle Dace, Aunt Melissa and their 3 kids, Uncle Larkin, Aunt April and their three kids, Chris, Ivy and their three kids, Clinton, Shauna, and their five kids, Uncle Britton, Mike,Trina and their two kids and then Vanessa. It was so much fun to just hang out with everyone. Once everyone left except Dace and Melissa we realized that the children had gotten out every single toy we own and absolutely had a great time trashing the upstairs. Jaren being the great husband he is got all of our kids and three of their cousins to clean it all up in half an hour. He then rewarded them with popsicles. It was a bit strange for it to be our last baby blessing.

Ballroom dance.

2008-11-02T06:44:00.000-08:00

Our three oldest are taking ballroom dance right now. They are learning the cha cha. They really enjoy taking dance. I was very suprised at how well Nathaniel does at ballroom dance. Alyssa gets a lot of socializing done at dance class and not as much learning. They will be dancing at a recital in May.

Cute pictures of the kids

2008-09-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

The kids got out every lego to see what they had. This is when they were half way done cleaning them all up.
Nathaniel is an awesome big brother. He will pick up Aimee if she is crying and will cuddle her and bounce her to calm her down.
Liam fell off of the stage at church and broke his collar bone. So he needed help opening his presents.
Made me laugh to see her in my gym shoes with no clothes on. Usually my children do wear clothes.

Princesses start out very young.

Liam's birthday party

2008-09-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

When my kids turn 5, they get a big birthday party. It is a Knight and Princess party. A couple kids came after we took the picture. We had 26 kids there total. It was very chaotic and loud and loads of fun. We played a ballon game, sock wars and sack races. Then the kids got swords and battle axes and fought each other. Only two more 5 year old parties to do.
SOCK WARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Liam wanted to have purple hair for his party. The dye came out of his hair, but not off of his scalp. So he went to church with a purple scalp. We got some odd looks.
We blew up 70 ballons for the balloon game. Thank heavens for an air compresser.
It is amazing the things you can do with a baby on your lap.

Alyssa's new haircut & my sewing project.

2008-09-08T20:28:00.001-07:00

I took Alyssa to the hairdresser's with me to get her hair cut. I had the hairdresser color my hair blonde. When Alyssa got up in the chair she turned to the hairdresser and said, "please don't make my hair blonde!" We had a good laugh. She loves her red hair.

I made these skirts for Alyssa and Liberty. I was having trouble finding modest skirts that would fit Alyssa. She is a challenge to shop for because she is very petite. So one of the challenges I have is how thin she is. And sometimes what fits isn't age appropriate since she is seven. Liberty is 2 1/2.

Why I chose these songs

2008-09-08T20:23:00.001-07:00

I thought I would share why I chose the songs that I have chosen to share on my blog. Because you loved me is Jaren and my song. We danced to it at our wedding. My front porch looking in became important to us when I was pregnant with Liam and Jaren was traveling. At the time Alyssa was our red head with a sippy cup of milk. I'm already there came at the same time and for the same reason. I'm still a guy is currently my lovey's favorite song. And it reminds me that He is always going to be a guy and that I shouldn't expect him to be anything else. My favorite line is, "you see a priceless french painting, I see a drunk naked girl." Huckleberry is another song that Jaren and I both really like. It is about such a sweet love. Stealing Cinderella is totally how Jaren is going to feel about our girls. It helps me to remember that my children are not young for long.

So embarrassingly funny!

2008-08-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

So my neighbor Vanessa came over to visit and see the baby. She is a great neighbor! While she was here Liberty was running around and trying to play with Vanessa. She loves Vanessa and calls her Nessa. We were talking and Liberty was sitting between us with her two teddy bears. All of the sudden I realized that Liberty was making slurping sounds. I look down and Liberty has taken her two bears and put them up to Vanessa's breasts and is pretending her bears are nursing Vanessa. I about died laughing. Liberty has done this to me before. It seems that she realizes she doesn't have the proper equipment but that Vanessa and I do.

more pictures

2008-08-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

I am adding some pictures of the kids with Aimee. They are so excited that she is here. They absolutely adore her.

We had the baby!

2008-07-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures from having the baby.

I had Aimee on Thursday the 24th. I was induced. I had a regular nurse and then I also had a male nursing student. They started the induction at 7:30. About an hour after I got the epidural I started feeling like I was going to throw up and my lips were numb. So the nurse took my blood pressure and it was 52/25 So she quickly gave me medicine twice to get my blood pressure up. They were supprised I stayed consiouse the whole time. Then two hours before I had the baby the epidural quit working. So my husband helped me breathe through the contractions. I just wasn't hitting transition. The doctor came in and asked if she could check me, I said I didn't know that the nurse had just checked me and that I was at a 9 but there was some cervix left. So she said she would go check on another lady that might be further along than me. As soon as she left the room I turned to the nurse and said the baby's head is right there and I need to push. Suddenly everyone was running around. The nurse ran out into the hall and yelled for the doctor. The doctor ran in, sat down and put her hand on the babies head trying to just hold it long enough to put her gloves on. I told her that if she was pushing the baby back in, that I was going to kick her. She never got her gloves on. After the birth they had problems getting the bleeding to stop. They ended up scraping my uterus to make sure they had it all. There were two bits left that needed to come out. They also had to give me two additional medicines to get my uterus to start clamping down to stop the bleeding. I am so grateful for a good doctor because this is the very reason I have to be induced. And she was able to get the bleeding to stop. Aimee Elizabeth weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. I was in labor for 11 hours.

Only 10 more days!

2008-07-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

Only 10 more days until I will be induced. For those of you who are natural birth people, I have to be induced medically. I have some issues that can cause me to bleed out during the birthing process and since I live 45 minutes from the closest hospital they don't want me going on my own. So far it hasn't happened. But I do want to live. Well at least most of the time I want to. But I do wish people would stop telling me I am lucky I am not an elephant because they have to be pregnant for 2 years. First of all, being pregnant for 2 years would be the least of my problems if I was an elephant. Second I understand that if you are saying that to me, you must think I look as big as an elephant, or why would you be comparing me to one? I swear if one more person tells me I am huge, I will tell them they are huge too. And the people that tell me this aren't pregnant. Wonder how that would go over? One of my sons told me at least I don't have to be pregnant forever. I later informed my husband that if I had to be pregnant for the rest of my life I would commit suicide.
That is no way to live. Here are some things I am looking forward to when I am not pregnant; 1) Sleeping on my back again. 2) Having my hips not hurt all the time. 3) Food tasting normal. (can't believe chocolate doesn't taste good this pregnancy. How mean was that?) 4) Being able to walk normally again and actually lift my feet. 5) Going back to the gym. 6) Not throwing up until I get the flu. 7) Being able to hold my kids on my lap again.

Raising daughters with older brothers.

2008-06-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

I have to say that raising daughters who have older brothers can be quite interesting. You get the girlie side of the daughters. They like to have their toenail's painted, they feed their baby dolls, they love purses and make up. Then you get the side of them that is influenced by older brothers. Liberty loves to play with lego men. But she calls them all bad guys. She loves motorcylces and gets very excited when she sees one out in public. She also shoots her baby dolls and has them fall over with death sounds. So it makes for quite an interesting mix. And is actually a lot of fun. Of course Liam likes the color purple, so I supose it goes both ways.

Zoo

2008-06-10T20:30:00.001-07:00

Last week we went to the Zoo with one of my Sister-in-laws and her two kids. The kids had a blast and for the most part the animals put on a nice show. The best part was the kids got to feed the giraffes. But I have to admit, I won't be going to the zoo again until after I have this baby.

Neat article

2008-06-04T07:29:00.001-07:00

I found this really neat article on Meridian Magazine yesturday.

It is called A Living Sacrifice. It is written by Kathryn Soper.

I shifted my weight on the pew and sighed as the sacrament meeting speaker stood to begin his talk. Seven months pregnant, I was swollen and sore, big-bellied, and exhausted from the constant demands of my five young children who were crawling on and off my nearly-nonexistent lap, whispering (or not) in my ear, and requesting backrubs and water breaks.
I wasn’t sure I could last the remaining fifteen minutes of the meeting, let alone the final months of the pregnancy.
I nearly let out an audible groan when the speaker launched into his topic — pioneers. The last thing I wanted to hear was heroic tales of handcarts and amputations; of babies born in wagons, then buried trailside days later; of mothers who kept walking resolutely to Zion no matter what they had to leave behind. I could barely drag myself from my living room to my kitchen.
I closed my eyes and drifted into half-sleep as the speaker droned on, only to be jolted upright by my toddler’s stray elbow jamming into my abdomen. The baby inside began to kick in response, pummeling my bladder and ribs as he somersaulted in his watery nest.
I bit my lip trying not to cry or scream, as waves of frustration broke over me. It’s too much, I thought. All these kids. Whining and poking and pushing and wanting and needing, their words and hands and feet chipping away at me from without and within. I can’t stand this one more day, one more hour.
It’s horribly cliché to claim that at that very moment, the speaker said the very words I needed to hear. But that’s exactly what happened. He was reading the story of the Sweetwater crossing, the day that grown men and women sat down and cried on the banks of the half-frozen river because their strength was utterly spent, the day that three young men carried dozens of people through the chunks of ice and onto the continuing path west that waited on the opposite bank.
And as those words penetrated the hazy fatigue that enveloped me, the Spirit spoke. Not with words, but with a deep impression that I roughly translate here: “Your sacrifice is like unto theirs.”
I sensed within myself the chasm that separates the premortal spirit world from the earth, and how there were spirits waiting on that bank needing to cross to the other side. And how I was carrying them, one at a time, to the opposite bank, so that they could continue along the path to Zion.
Paul’s words sprang to my mind, words that had burned into me years before at the start of my fourth pregnancy, when I was wondering how I would ever manage another baby. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1).
Present your body as a living sacrifice. Sacrifice: the word comes from the Latin sancire, meaning to make sacred. That’s exactly what I was doing: offering my very flesh and blood to God, to meet his purposes, to fulfill the desires for children he had planted within me.
All the pain and discomfort and difficulty, I suddenly understood, was having a sanctifying effect. It sure doesn’t seem that way, I thought as I shifted my ample weight on the pew and rearranged the various limbs of my children. I didn’t feel sacred; I felt bloated, achy, irritable — even desperate. And this little burst of revelation did nothing to ease my physical and emotional distress. But even so, I knew it was true: as a result of my bodily sacrifice, I was becoming more holy.
In the months and weeks that followed, I returned to this thought again and again, each time gaining deeper awareness of the significance of my labors. By using my body’s capabilities to build up the kingdom of God, I was consecrating myself, my time and energy and desire, in the most tangible, intimate way imaginable.
The awareness didn’t take away the sciatic pain or the killer heartburn or the bone-deep fatigue. But when the baby was born, I was keenly aware that I had ushered him across the gulf that only a woman could navigate. My husband quipped, just as he had at the end of each of my childbirths, that he was glad he wasn’t a woman. But I was glad — so glad.
And then, a year later, I had a miscarriage.
It was my first. Amazingly, I had completed six pregnancies without such incident, but my number was finally up. I was only six weeks along when the spotting began, followed by heavy bleeding, and finally, the passing of the tiny forming body.
Afterward I grappled with many difficult feelings — grief, anger, longing. Sure, I had only been pregnant for a few weeks, but I had already invested great physical, emotional, and spiritual energy in this new life. And for what? Some women receive revelation that the life lost will be resurrected, that the forming child will be part of her eternal family. But I had received no such reassurance. I felt like the whole experience was a bitter waste.
A few weeks later, I spoke with a close friend of mine who had just suffered her second miscarriage. I confided my sense of emptiness and futility. But as I continued to speak, I heard surprising words coming from my mouth.
“It wasn’t a waste,” I said. “It wasn’t a waste.” I wasn’t quite sure what I meant. I did not feel any more certain than I had before that the partially formed body I had passed would someday live again. Nor was I referring to the personal gain of knowledge and experience that comes from our trials. Rather, I knew that somehow, my loss counted. God knew what had happened, he grieved with me. And in some inexplicable way, my loss would contribute to his work and his glory, as well as my personal holiness.
I felt better after that, even though it still took more time to recover, both physically and emotionally. But it was easier to accept my loss with the assurance that it hadn’t been in vain. I became convinced that when women offer their bodies as vehicles for new life, they are consecrating themselves to God’s purposes, and God honors this offering, whether or not it results in live birth.
I sensed that this is especially true when we offer ourselves consciously, purposefully, to God. And I began to think about how this is true for women in a variety of circumstances: women who try and try, but are unable to conceive; women who subject themselves to the rigors of adopting a child; women who remain single in this lifetime, who must forego maternity as well as intimacy on a number of levels.
I came to this conclusion: Every faithful Latter-day Saint woman consecrates her body as a living sacrifice. Whether our particular burden is fullness or emptiness, each of us is pushing forward against the river current of the world with our eyes on the kingdom of God.

Teach the Children

2008-06-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading a really good book called Teach the Children, an agency approach to education. This book is actually used as the curriculum for a class in the education department at BYU.

While reading it, I found this interesting statement under how the Doctrine and Covenants tell us to educate our children. "The Lord explains that mortal life was divinely designed; individuals were organized into families, and Satan was prevented from tempting little children so that parents could prove themselves. Only through others-primarily parents-does Satan have access to little children before they reach the age of accountability.. All this, he said, was intentional, so that 'great things may be required at the hand of their fathers' (D&C 29:46-48)

This was deep to me and has made me look at my actions as a mother more.

I sure missed my big boys.

2008-06-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday and Thursday Nathaniel and Addison had cub scout day camp. They were gone from 7 am to 6 pm. We aren't used to having them gone at all. On Thursday I took Alyssa, Liam and Liberty to the park so that my visiting teachers could visit with me. Alyssa kept asking me if they could swing. I kept telling her no. Usually one of the big boys will put Liberty in the swing and help swing the other kids. Finally after a lot of bugging I said yes. So she and Liam got Liberty into the baby swing. When it was time to go Alyass tried to get Liberty out of the swing. Liberty ended up hanging upside down with a leg twisted in the swing. I tried to run across the park to get to them quickly. (Pregnant women just don't run fast.) I got there and got her out. By this time Liberty is screaming quite loudly. We went home and Liberty got her hand slammed in a door. Then Liam told me he was hungry and wanted lunch. I told him to get the corndogs out of the freezer and I would be downstairs in a couple minutes to cook them. A few minutes later Liam comes running up the stairs yelling something about Liberty, burned and fire. I am trying to figure out how on earth Liberty got burned as I went down the stairs. I get downstairs and there is thick, black smoke everywhere and it smells somewhat toxic. I asked what happened and that is when I learned that Liam had decided to cook Liberty's corndog for her. I look in the microwave and realize that he cooked it with the plastic on. It wasn't even recognizable as a corndog. Then he says he stopped the microwave to see if it was finished. I look at the time and realize there is still 40 minutes left on the cooking time. I grab the glass plate from the microwave to throw the corndog in the outside garbage. Liam comes with me. As we go outside I calmly explain that he is not to use the microwave, he is too young. He keeps insisting that he knows how to use it, as I haul away the evidance that he doesn't. Poor Liberty at this point is sitting in her chair at the table just sucking her thumb. I sure missed Nathaniel and Addison. They help so much with the little ones. It has been 4 days and our house still smells like burnt plastic.

Exciting Happenings at Church Today

2008-05-18T20:43:00.001-07:00

We have lived in this town now for five years. When we first moved here there were two wards. One was pretty small and the other was almost normal sized. In fact, when we moved in they were very excited to have new people. (That has since changed.) One year ago they made a third ward which we are members of. Today they took second ward and divided it into two wards. So we now will have four wards meeting in our building. We have a small building. It is definately going to be interesting to see how well that is going to work. Second ward is very happy about it. They had over 200 children in their primary.

Jaren is very close to his children. Liberty is the first child that prefers me. I think it is due to all the time he spent in the bishopric, especially sitting on the stand. She has had a rough adjustment to having Jaren sit with us. She was sitting on my lap crying. For the first time ever I told one of my children that if she didn't stop crying I was going to give her to Jaren. She stopped crying immediately. Poor Jaren couldn't believe it. Usually they prefer him because he is more fun.

Our home teacher stopped by today and brought us apricots from his tree. My kids loved them. I was quite stunned to realize that none of my children had ever had apricots before.

It appears that I have reached that time in my pregnancy where I can't sit all the way through sacrament meeting. I also can't sit in the chairs for Sunday School or Relief Society. I still have 12 weeks left. I guess I will be doing a lot of visiting in the halls for the next three weeks.

The Bitter Large Family Wish List.

2008-05-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

Upon reading the last list, someone posted that they wish there was one for people with big families. So I sat down and created my wish list.

1)To the man in the grocery store that told me I need to stop having children because I am ruining the world, I wish your mother had felt the same way you do.
2)I understand that when you critisize my large family, it isn't that you hate large families, it is that you hate families in general and must have had an unhappy upbringing.
3)To those that say boy your hands are full, Either offer to help or at least notice I am pushing a cart and all 5 of my children know how to walk.
4)To the lady at walmart that said boy I hope that you are just the babysitter and that they aren't all yours. I would have to be clinically insane to take 5 children that belong to other people to walmart.
5) To the man who said wow, you must have brought half the neighborhood with you, nope, my neighbor has more children than me and she isn't LDS.
6)To the makers of maternity dresses, just because I am pregnant does not mean I am a hoochie mamma and I surely don't want to dress like one. I already have the man and we are married.
7)To those that ask if I know what causes it, yes I do, and it is fun and we are very successful at everything we do.
8)To those at resturants that look very upset when we are seated next to you, well the best revenge is that my children actually behave themselves in public and we end up being complimented by you. Thanks for being able to admit you were wrong.
9)To those that count my children when we are out in public, I am so glad at your age that you know how to count to five. It must be very helpful to you in many ways.
10)To those that say, You are having another baby?!!! Nope, I am having a bird this time.

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List

2008-05-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

I found this on another website.

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish ListBy Deborah Markus

1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?
2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.
3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5.If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.
9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.
10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.
12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
13 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.
14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.
18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.
22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.
23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.
24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!