Babies don’t keep

Faith was 6 months on May 1st. 

 

Some 6 months (okay, almost 7 months) stats:

15 pounds (and more importantly maintenance of the 20th percentile)

28 inches

Champion sleeper, down to 2 naps a day and 13 hours at night.

Not so good eater—a combination of breastmilk (thank you alfalfa, fenugreek and a good hospital pump), formula, baby food and lots of crusts and crackers shoved in her hands to keep her happy.

Sitting well, finally

EXTREMELY happy…if entertained.

Can blow raspberries, fake cough and do this high pitch scream on command.

Not-so-good with babysitters and holders at church.  We’re working on it.

Loved and super fun all the time.

 

Before she was six months, I was up all night, training her to sleep, Baby-Bjorning, wiping spit up, nursing, trying to retain my milk supply, shielding her from over-loving siblings, attempting to run errands in that infinitesimal space between baby’s naps, feedings and kindergarten drop-off, bemoaning and working off the baby-weight,  keeping up with the lives of her 4 other siblings and, of course, kissing, biting, nuzzling, rocking, lullaby-ing, tickling and strolling.

         

And I was really really really trying to appreciate, enjoy, soak in this possible last baby.

And then she was 6 months.  What? …6 months is one half of a year.  An actual age.  How did my newborn become an actual age?

I promise I did not soak it up enough.  And, still, it’s here.

I was kind of wishing I’d feel more relief or something.  Not this achy, where-did-it-go and am-I-really-not-going-to-have-another-perfectly-yummy-looking-smushy-baby-who-thinks-I’m-the-greatest-thing-that-ever-lived feeling. 

I commented to Ryan the other day:  “If someone could invent a Have Your Child At Any Age For A Few Hours machine, I would pay thousands of dollars for it, in a second.”  Don’t you agree?

Lucky for me, my friend Randi (here for her family blog, here for her photo website)takes these kinds of pictures, so I can remember exactly how sweet she was.

Quick Quote #33

Gabe to Emma: "If I HAD to choose to marry Girl A or Girl B (names changed to protect the innocent), I would choose Girl B. Girl A gives me too much back talk."

Elements of an Awesome Third Grade Titanic party

This is what you’ll need:

a costume:

a cute face to use it on:

delicious, fancy looking food, that 8 year olds will eat:

 

pretty place settings:

a classroom decorated like a boat (notice the portholes, the life preserver and the captain):

superb wait staff:

a maitre d’ that also sings “Danny Boy” for entertainment:

and

a hot chick to waltz with (I use the term “waltz” very loosely):

And maybe, if you do all of these things…you’ll get a thank you note that goes something like this:

Dear Mom.  Thank you for coming and severing (sic).  I did not think I would like it when you severed.  (Well, who would?) But I liked it.  And That’s the way Ah-Ah I like it.    Love, Gabe. 

(The third grade does this every year and it is incredible.  The kids get so excited and really learn about the Titanic, etiquette, turn of the century history and dress, and their individual persona.  I’m grateful my kids go to such a great school.)

Checking the Summary off of my list

It’s time to bite the bullet.  Has anyone noticed that I write a long catch up post and then do a ton of little ones, and then take forever to get back?  That’s because I never feel like I have the quiet I need to really compose something, and so I put it off and it just seems bigger and bigger and once I finally do, I’m freed to do a bunch of random posts. 

Man.  That last paragraph was boh-oh-ring. 

So here I am, tasked with a big catch up post, with kids not due to wake up or get home for 20 minutes.  Can I do it?  Oh, yes, because I am nothing if not fast.  (Ask Ryan.  My bathroom clean-up times are legendary). 

Here we go…one super speedy catch up post:

  

Here’s a picture I took with my i-phone, while I was driving one Saturday to the grocery store.  If you look closely, you’ll see Emma and cousin Mallory, biking to Albertson’s with a wad of cash in their hands.  You and I are equally surprised to see my daughter miles from home all on her own.  While a little jarring, it was fun to see how big and capable she is, and she and I are dreaming of a summer of independence, because she’s so super responsible and old.

While I looooove Faith’s bumpo chair, I would not recommend it as a bath apparatus.  As the water filled, the bumpo floated and quickly dumped Faith over the side.  Lest you call the cops on me, I was closely supervising and provided a quick rescue.

For everything else though, that thing works miracles.  She is so much happier in it than anywhere else.  You just have to stay close by when she’s on counter tops, because, like other Romney siblings, she is a) strong and b) super wiggly and can work her way out if given sufficient motivation.

 

Here are some pictures from cute Jane’s 6th birthday.  It was kind of a dream come true because it included:

a) crepes for breakfast

b) presents

c) a bike (that she rides constantly and looks super teeny on and LOVES because she can go as fast as her siblings and has resulted in the most torn-up set of knees that keep getting reinjured over and over.)

d) a pool party at Aunt Marcy’s house (she’d actually been begging me to take her to Aunt Marcy’s pool and, no lie, Marcy randomly called and invited us to come for a pool party ON JANE’S BIRTHDAY.)

e) a huge Costco cake (okay that was a dream come true for me, because I didn’t have to make it)

f) a evening on the rides at Riverfront park with just the big girls

Here’s Emma with her cute piano teacher after their recital on Saturday.  She was the last one on the program…and you all know what that means, right?  As any self-respecting daughter of a piano teacher (moi) knows, you put the best players last.  And she did very well.

This what happens when I tell Seth, “Go get ready for Meghann, she’s coming to pick you up for preschool.”  That’s him, on his big wheel, with his backpack on and hair slicked down.  I watched him big wheel right up to her car door as she pulled toward our house.  Apparently, despite his not-so-impressive Home Co-op Preschool Three Year Old Assessments Given By A Bunch of Moms, he’s excited to participate. 

These pictures are proof that we

a) are fun parents

b) are beyond excited that a super warm spring has arrived to the Inland Northwest. 

We’ve been taking bike rides and hikes and drives to the Lilac groves and long evening walks every chance we get.

Here’s reason #811 that I love my i-phone: Super sly pictures of my kids giving talks at church. 

Here’s proof we (as in the adults, Ryan and Jessica) are still cool.  Last night, we sat in our friend’s (picture above) cool living room, watching a cool sunset, drinking cool soda, while listening to cool live music.  I know.  You’re wishing you were as cool as us.

And lastly, here’s Faith sucking her toe.  Like it’s her thumb.  Does that affect my orthodontia' bills?

And my kids just got home and of course someone’s crying and someone’s arm is hurting and someone’s asking me if she can darken her face for her Sacajawea costume, so I’m done trying to form coherent sentences for awhile. 

 

Perseverance

(You know what they say…)

If at first you don’t succeed:

Try, try again:

 

(…and again):

What is that tooth fairy’s problem, anyway?

He has his reasons

 

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

7:08 pm Ryan is given the oath of office for a Council Seat #6 for our little  Northwestern town.  (Because he’s been twiddling his thumbs, wishing he had more to do in his life.  You know, besides training for a half-ironman, going back to school for his MBA, parenting 5 kids, working and being the ward clerk.  You can see why he was so bored.)

7:11 pm  We, all 6 of us, arrive to witness the oath of office.  Oops.

7:12 pm  The mayor proceeds to ask Ryan to introduce us.  He says, “This is my wife and our four kids.”  I correct him by holding up all five fingers and then the mayor asks him to give names and ages.

     7:15 pm Seth begins rocking his chair into the lady next to him. 

7:22 pm Some lady stands up and starts talking about the census.

7:22:30 pm Faith starts fussing.

       7:24 pm  Faith barfs sweet potatoes all over one of the city council chairs.

       7:26 pm  Me, and our five kids, head out the door.

I think Ryan might have had an ulterior motive when he decided to enter the political arena, how about you?

 

Half-Full or Half-Empty?

Things I Don’t Feel Good About:

1.  That I still have 23 lbs to lose before I get to a happy weight

2.  That none of my clothes fit…I wear them, I just look like a big girl trying to fit in a smaller girl’s clothes.

3.  That I’m continually chagrined at how large I look in pictures

Things I DO Feel Good About:

1.  That I took second place at our local gym’s weight loss contest (I lost 6% body fat in 3 months!)

2.  That I tied for first place in our friend weight loss contest.

3.  That, after running consistent 10 minute miles while training for the half marathon, last Saturday, I finished it in 2:00:33—which, if you do the math, is a 9:06 minute mile average! 

 

My friends who ran the race with me, and my husband who OBVIOUSLY grew up in the ghetto.

iHappy

(that title is kind of ripping off Paige’s cleverness , sorry.)

I really don’t think I’ve been this giddy over a material object since I bought my first new car after I graduated from BYU. All day at church, post-gift receiving, instead of thinking of Jesus, I kept remembering “Eeee! I own an iphone!” and “Eeee! I can type recipes into the Loseit! app and it will tell me exactly how many calories, etc, it has per serving” and “Eeee! You can sync up with your ward website and everyone’s phone numbers and emails at your finger tips!” (I know. I probably ought to do the whole church thing over again, huh?)

So far this is why I love it:

1. I typed, in the “Notes” section, Jane’s birthday list and emailed it to loving grandparents WHILE IN LINE AT WALMART!

2. I typed just the name of the obscure wallpaper store I was going to today, in the Map section, and in, like 2 seconds!, it pulled up the store. THEN it pulled up me, in blue dot form, and showed how Blue Dot Me could get to the store. Then, on the screen, Blue Dot Me moved whenever my car moved and told me exactly how close I was to my store.

3. At the wallpaper store, I could take a picture of the wallpaper and email it to Ryan to see if he liked it. (Except I didn’t find any I liked, so I only emailed him a picture of me and Faith, but still. I could have.)

4. To show the owner of the wallpaper store what I was looking for, I simply found the wallpaper I’ve been admiring on the Target website and showed it to her. (She didn’t have it. But still.)

Can you even believe it?

So this is what I need to know from iphone havers:

1. How, seriously, do you not spend every moment playing with the phone? (Really. I want to know, because I’m having a limiting problem, which I’m hoping is just the newness of it.)

2. What tricks did you not know when you got it, that you want to share with me?

3. What apps do I need?

Kay, that’s all. Sorry to be so in love with a material object. Maybe next week at church they’ll have a lesson about that. I’ll try to listen this time.

Mother, I Give you My Love with…

Today, we did our mother’s day celebrating over a breakfast of Saturday-bought Cinnabons.  The following are examples of the heartfelt/handmade poems, letters and gifts my family gave me.  I realize my children’s darling poems, recorded here because we all know Jessica will lose them in a week or so, will be only of interest to a grandparent (maybe), but you’ll want to skim down to the end.  Ryan’s was a doozy.

Seth’s Mother’s Day letter (as dictated to the Primary helper):

I loved you.

You cook good breakfasts.

I love you to make brownies.

I love to make cookies with you.

 

(Hmmm.  Any guesses on what I spend a lot of time doing?)

 

Jane’s Mother’s Day Recipe:

Mom’s Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:  1 pot full of water, 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of milk, 2 boxes of milk.  2 boxes of noodles, 2 packets of cheese.

Directions:  First, you boil the water.  Then you stir in the macaroni and cook it for half an hour.  Then we take it out.  Put in the milk, cheese and butter.  Stir it 1 time and then it is ready to eat!

 

 

 

 

 

Gabe’s Mother’s Day Poem:

Mom-oh-Mom I love you swell.

Mom-oh-Mom, you treat me well.

Mom the greatest you are so kind.

Mom the greatest the lost you find.

Mom so nice you are cool every day.

Mom so nice I hope you never fly away.

Mom dearest you are mellow.

Mom dearest you are YELLOW. (?)

Mom oh mom you are so nice on Sunday.

But today is Mother’s Day, yip i yi yay!

 

 Emma’s Mother’s Day poem:

She is wonderful in every way.

She wonders if when we grow up if we will be all that we can.

She hears everything,

She sees everything, you can’t hide anything.

She wants us to live to our full potential.

She is wonderful in every way.

She pretend she is a star, but in my eyes she already is.

She feels what I feel and tries to help.

She cries when she’s touched. 

She is touched when something brilliant happen to anyone because she is caring. 

She is worried about the day when I’m grown.  But I’ll always be her little girl.

She is wonderful in every way.

She says she would give her life for us, and I would do the same for her.

She dreams and knows we will live together after we die.

She tries to do her best and she's great to me.  She hopes we will follow Christ.

She is wonderful in every way.

 

Faith’s Mother’s Day present:

Sleeping in the church kitchen during Relief Society so that I could enjoy the whole 3rd hour of church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ryan’s Mother’s Day present:

Certain presents I laughed at, certain presents I teared up over, certain presents…(let’s just be honest) were my favorite.

Butter and Salt with that?

Dad:  (having been prepped by Mom)What’s in your nose, Seth?

Seth:  A nut.

Dad:  Is it going to come out?

Seth:  No.  Cause it’s far, far.

Dad:  Why don’t we try blowing it?

Seth:  I did that with Jessica (my friend Jessica who was “watching” him while I went to the gym).  I blowed it in a paper.  She had a little black flashlight.  I got popcorn in my mouth.

Dad: I can’t see it.

Seth:  But Jessica could see it and she feeled it.

Dad: Are you sure it’s in there?

Seth: Yeah. 

Dad: Where is it?

Seth: On one side.

Seth:  There’s two nuts in my nose.

Dad:  How did it get there?

Seth:  Like this (fingers up nose). 

Mom:  Why?

Seth:  Because I was eating it.  Because I put it up my nose, I need a tissue.  Hey.  Where’s my candy?

 

(What does one do with a child like this?  Really.  One month later, the kernel’s never been found, but there have been no foul smells emanating from Seth, at least not fouler than normal, and so we are assuming the kernel is not rotting in his brain.  Though that could explain quite a lot about this kid.)

Summary: Where Are They Now Edition

Jane

Status: crying in her room, after running up the stairs yelling: “I hate my mom!” This is because I informed her she couldn’t use the computer because I was going to use it. She might be feeling emotional because, as she told me yesterday, “I used to have 2 boyfriends but I broke up with one of them. I haven’t kissed the other one, but I was telling him a secret and I kissed his ear on accident.” This is so Jane: super social and sensitive…I know it totally bodes well for teenage-hood.

(Also, Jane loves to read, is begging me to teach her piano—what? did she not get the “Mom Has Five Kids” memo?—and her favorite thing is when we walk her to school, so she can ride her bike home with Emma and Gabe.)

Faith

Status: sleeping in her crib, probably with her thumb firmly planted in her mouth and her little fingers wrapped around a satin-y blanket. (Like I’d be blogging if she was awake…) She is probably exhausted from her sitting up, rolling all over the place and her Mamama-ing. Maybe she’s dreaming of her brush with fame. The picture above is Faith holding “her” windmill, one of the 2,893 that were put outside the hospital where she was born to commemorate the babies born there last year.

Gabe

Status: at school, resting his legs after his fun early morning run with his Mom. Gabe’s been participating in an after-school running program. He’s completed a few 4 mile runs, in 45 minutes and ran more miles in the 6 week program than any other 3rd grader. When my running buddies ditched me this morning (thanks Randi and Laura), I ran home and grabbed him and we had THE FUNNEST TIME chatting and running together.

Jessica

Status: blogging for the first time in a week, because who has time to be on the computer when you spend four days in Arizona with your oldest, best friends:

when your fun Mom comes to visit for a week:

and you have to keep track of all the free/cheap ice cream deals this month had to offer.

Ryan

Status: of course, working. If it were 11pm, he would also be working, because some guys on his team work in India, and he’s been up late working in their time zone. But that’s not the only reason he’s tired. No, he’s tired because he has to try to keep up with me while we train for an upcoming half-marathon. (What?! You don’t think 10.5 minute miles are a challenge for him?)

Emma

Status: also at school, hopefully winning her Dress Up Your Skeleton contest. She picked Elvis, and proving the crafting genes skipped a generation, had him all decked up in sequined pants and guitar. She gets extra credit if she wins, but, despite tendencies toward procrastination (also skipped a generation. I swear.), she doesn’t need them. She has great grades.

Hopefully, she’s not getting another tick, because despite the fact that she carried said tick around in a test tube for a week…it was gross:

Seth

Status: at co-op preschool, where his teacher has requested another day, in order to get them ready for assessments (?). I’ll make it easy for them. Seth knows 4 letters: s,o,x,e and makes no sense ever. And he eats pickles, sandwiched by Snickerdoodle cookies. (Seriously, yesterday I watched him eat the whole thing. Weird.)

He’s really awesome on a Big Wheel, though, which he proved on Sunday, when he escaped without parental knowledge, to the end of our cul-de-sac…prompting a visit from the local police who had received a call from a “concerned” neighbor. We were so grateful (please read with sarcasm dripping from your voice).

And since this is all about to change: the kids will be home, Jane will calm down and Faith will awake, change my status to Awaiting Your Comments.