Warriors

Maxwell and Jonah are ready for battle - I just with the boys were on the same team more often. Most of the time they're battling against each other. sigh.

Becky/Kenna update

Kenna is one week old today! Happy Birthday Kenna! She and Becky are still in the hospital, although Kenna has technically been discharged. Becky's body was not responding to the antibiotic the way the doctor expected, so yesterday Becky had a CAT scan. They found a fist sized growth, which an ultrasound revealed to be a cyst. The cyst must have grown very quickly, because the doctors didn't see it during the c-section, but it is not what is causing the infection or the low white blood cell count. The doctors expected the CAT scan to show an abscess, but there isn't one big abscess. Instead, they think she has lots of little abcess (plural) along her incision. The little abscesses/abscessi (?) are too small to drain, so they will keep treating with antibiotics to try to fix them that way. This morning, the doctors thought Becky might have a blood clot in her leg, but an ultrasound ruled that out. The CAT scan people told her she couldn't nurse Kenna for 48 hours, so Warren is bottle feeding her for now. If the current antiobiotic doesn't work, a stronger one will be used, and Becky would be unable to breastfeed Kenna while she's on that. We're praying that Becky can get well soon, go home, and not have any more problems. What a rough way to start motherhood!

Ruby - 6 1/2 weeks old

she's not smiling, but she's still cute :)

Squeamish Gene

When my little sister was in kindergarten, her class read Sleeping Beauty. Mindy fainted when Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on the spinning wheel. Most of my immediate family are quite squeamish. Anything to do with needles or blood and we're done - light headed, throwing up, passing out . . . It's one of the reasons I don't have an epidurual with my babies. I don't like needles.

I remember in a story in primary about a little girl who gets hit by a car, and her brother is asked to donate blood. He thinks he's going to die if he gives her his blood, but he still does it. Anyway, I think I fainted every time they told that story.

Today, I found out that Bentley has a little of the "squeamish gene." His primary teacher called today to apoligize. For what? She showed a video of Joseph Smith getting his leg operated on, and Bentley got sick. Poor kid. I told her that it runs in the family, and that he'd probably be ok. (unless that story about the kid who gives blood is part of next weeks lesson)

Kenna Update

(This is Kenna - she looks so sweet and snuggly)

Kenna and her Mom, Becky, are still at the hospital. Kenna is doing very well, but her poor mother is recovering from the c-section, and an infection. Becky has been at the hospital since last Tuesday and would really like to go home. We'll keep our fingers crossed that she'll be well enough tomorrow to go home! :)

Sunday Morning

Princess Ruby is surrounded by her loyal subjects.

Jonah has just crashed onto the bed.

Maxwell is playing with his Power Rangers.

Bentley (ready for church) has just put his shoe and sock back on after showing Maxwell that his (Bentley's) little toe is bigger than Ruby's big toe.

There's never a dull moment at our house. :)

Jonah likes . . .

Peanut Butter
all by itself

and Ruby

My Blessing Dress

The top picture is of Ruby in the pretty little pink dress that I wore for my blessing. The bottome picture is a faded quite a bit, but that's me (with my Grandma) wearing the same dress when I was Ruby's age.

a very long hour and a half

(The boys took these pictures of each other.)

Yesterday evening was LONG. The kids took turns crying and fighting and fussing from 5:30 till 7:00.

To start with, Maxwell took a late nap. He woke up around 5:30 and started crying. I went in to check on him. He said he hand not had an accident, and that he just wanted Jonah to get out of his room. So I took Jonah with me, left Maxwell alone, and went back to fixing dinner. Max kept crying. A few minutes later I went back in. He said he didn't want his door closed (I'd closed it to keep Jonah out). I left the door open this time, but he still kept crying. I checked on him a few more times, and John tried to cheer him up and to get him to come to dinner. Maxwell just kept crying. We ate dinner at 6 and Max cried on his bed all through the meal. John and I began to wonder exactly how long he could keep it up. Everyone else ate, and I started to clean up the kitchen.

I went to talk to Max again, and this time he told me he was crying because he wanted me to help him change his clothes because he'd had an accident. (grrr. I don't know whether that happened while he was sleeping, or while he was awake and crying. I suspect it happened after he woke up, but who knows.) I ran some bath water, and put Maxwell in the tub, where he kept crying and refused to sit down. While we were at it, I asked Bentley to take a bath, and turned around to find Jonah taking his clothes off to get in the tub. All three boys ended up in the tub, and eventually Max stopped crying, sat down, and started tormenting Jonah.

The boys took turns fighting and crying, until I got Jonah out and put him in his pajamas. Next, I got Max out of the tub, and helped him get dressed. While I was with Max, I heard Jonah screaming. I ran into the bathroom, and found him sitting in the bath tub, still wearing his pajamas, and crying in. Bentley (still in the tub) looked surprised.

I dressed Jonah, again, but he kept crying because he didn't like the pajamas I'd chosen. (his red ranger and superman pjs were in the laundry!!!) Finally we compromised on a t-shirt and some soft pants and Jonah stopped crying. Peace and quiet - for about a minute.

John was holding Ruby during the entire fiasco, and just as Jonah settled down (7pm), Ruby decided she was hungry and started to cry.

Some nights it's just one thing after another. Tonight, I'm going to my Stamp Group. :)

Happy Girl!

Kenna Rae

My brother and his wife welcomed their first baby this morning at 8:06am. Warren and Becky named their daughter Kenna Rae (8 pounds 13 ounces, 20.25 inches long). You can see pictures of Kenna on their blog. :)

First Date

Tonight, John and I went on our first post-baby date. My sweet sister-in-law, Elizabeth watched the boys so John and I could get out for a minute. My "summer time chocolate ice cream addiction" has morphed into a "winter time hot chocolate addiction," so we went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some hot chocolate. Unfortunately, their machine was broken. We bought the kids some chocolate hearts and headed down the street where we found some hot chocolate at Borders. It was nice to spend time with John. Thanks Elizabeth!

Happy Birthday Mikey!

My little brother, Mikey, is turning 19 today!


He's an amazing guy - super smart, kind, funny, talented, and a great example for his neice and nephews.
I look up to Mikey in more ways than one. Mikey always tries to do what is right. Last fall, I was talking to our brother, Spencer, about a decision Mikey had made, and Spence (so eloquently) described Mike - "He's really good at that kind of thing. You know - not sinning." And he is. :)
Mikey, we love you! Happy Birthday!

Daddy-Daughter Day

Sunday at our house has turned into "Daddy-Daughter Day." John and I both have Sunday responsibilities at church, but we don't want to take Ruby just yet. It's cold and flu season here in Utah, and our pediatrician tells us that church (as well as other public places) is a dangerous place for a little one. So for another month or two (except for her blessing day - February 11), Ruby stays home. Our solution to fulfilling callings is to tag team. John goes to one meeting while I stay home with Ruby and Jonah (afternoon church is during his nap time, so he stays home too). For the second hour John rushes home and I go to that meeting while John watches Ruby and Jonah. Then he comes back for the third hour while I am home again. When we're all home, I try to get as much primary business (emails, sharing time planning, whatever) done on Sunday as possible, so John ends up holding Ruby then, too. He holds her while I cook and clean up, and usually while we're eating. Ruby's so lucky to have a great Dad! (and I'm lucky to have such a great husband)

Ruby's Party

Today Ruby and I went to her baby shower. I felt a little silly having a shower for my 4th baby, but it was really fun. The refreshments were yummy and the company and conversation were great. Ruby and I had a wonderful time.

Back to Joy School

This past Tuesday I taught Joy School for the first time since Ruby was born. The current theme is order and goal striving. Today we introduced "order." One of the activities was setting the table - learning that everything has a place. Here are pictures of the boys working on their place setting art projects.

Bentley

Maxwell

Jonah

And what did Ruby do during Joy School?

She slept peacefully in her swing the entire time - on BOTH DAYS!

That's amazing, because she's not normally a swing kind of baby.

Thanks, Ruby, for making things easy for your Mom. :)

The Good Boy Chart

This is our latest attempt to encourage good behavior from Bentley, Maxwell, and Jonah. When one or all of them does something really good, they get a smiley face. When they do something really wrong, they get a frowny face. At this point, there is no reward or punishment other than the face on the chart, but the boys haven't noticed or maybe they don't care. They get pretty excited when we put up another smiley face, and very upset when another frowny face is added. So far, it seems to be helping a little. :)

Upgrade

Jonah upgraded from a toddler bed to a twin bed yesterday!

He had to break the bed in before nap time.

I think his favorite part of the new bed is the new sheet.
He was excited to see Mater and Lightening McQueen!
In fact, it took him a very long time to go to sleep because he was distracted by Mater and Lighting. :)

Apple Pie Anniversary

Besides being Ruby's 1 month birthday, today is the 7th anniversary of the first date John and I went on together. He took me to Ozz, where we played pool with his roommate, Jeremey, and Jeremey's date, Joy. Afterwards, the four of us made an apple pie and played games while it baked. To commemorate our "anniversary" we eat apple pie every January 15th. Most years, I make the pie, but tonight we enjoyed a Marie Callendar Dutch Apple Pie. Yum. (I'm lucky to make toast these days, so a pie from scratch was NOT going to happen.) :)

One Month Old!

Ruby was born one month ago!

The Castle Carries On

The castle that the boys received for Christmas may be mostly flat, but they are enjoying it anyway.

Jonah likes to bounce on it.

Maxwell and Bentley like

to jump on to it.

(They make me a little nervous.)

Gentle Jonah

I was a little worried about Jonah's reaction to our new baby, but he has been wonderful. He loves his baby sister and squeals "BABY!" whenever he sees her. He calls her "baby" or "bee" (which might be short for either baby or Ruby or both). He loves to look at her, and when he does touch her, he softly rubs her head. No hitting, biting or kicking! He's very kind and loving and I'm so glad he's such a wonderful big brother!

Thanks Aunt Ginger!

Ruby would like to thank her Indiana relatives for the beautiful bracelet and headbands that arrived today!

honesty???

he looks sweet and innocent, doesn't he?

Today after lunch, Bentley asked me if he could use some of his "computer time." I told him that he needed to wait a little while. Maxwell listened to our conversation and then gave Bentley some advice:

"Bentley, you can just sneak downstairs and play computer games. Then, when Mom asks if you are playing computer games, you can just say, "No." Then, if she comes downstairs, and you are playing computer games, you can just get her!"

Bentley gave Maxwell a blank stare - I think he was processing the idea. So I said, "Bentley wouldn't do that because he's honest." What was Bentley's reply to that?

"Mom, what's honest mean?"

Great.

Wink . . .

(Bentley attempts to wink)

Today at lunch:

Bentley, "Hey Mom, if we couldn't taste food, then I'd eat everything you make us!"

Thanks, Bentley.

Someone to watch over me . . .

Ruby's brothers are never too far away. They like to keep an eye on their little sister.
What a lucky girl!

How the boys play . . .

This is fun? It's how the boys play all the time! (The remarkable thing about this video is that they played for that long without someone crying.)

Big kids and babies

Bentley with baby Maxwell

Baby Jonah with Maxwell
baby Ruby with Jonah

Ruby's First Bath

Ruby had her first real bath last night! Doesn't she look like she loves it? :)

Things went down hill from here - she screamed for the rest of her bath. Poor girl.
This is a terrible picture of her, but I was trying to capture her fuzziness. After her bath her hair stood up all around her head, like a baby chick. so cute.

Evolution of Dance

The other day my friend sent me this link to the Evolution of Dance. It's kind of funny - especially if you remember doing any of these slick moves. :)

A Sunbeam . . . and a talk

Maxwell is a Sunbeam!

Here he is, ready for his first offical day in primary.

(As a baby he came to primary every week with me because I was the chorister, so it wasn't really his FIRST day.)

He liked coming to primary with Bentley and me. He was excited about the crown that he made in class. It says, "I am a child of God."

Bentley gave a talk about faith in primary today. He did it all by himself because he had most of it memorized, and could read the parts that he didn't have memorized. Nice job, Bentley!

Jonah and Ruby are "inactive" for the time being, so there are church pictures of them today. :(