a few more ladies

my sister is here with her four outrageously dramatic girls. Nine kids in this house is never too many, especially when they're this cute:

Betty Boop and Roly Poly are BFFs in their matching jammies. Debbie bought the right kind of pacifier to keep Roma quiet. It's been working wonders.

Lots more pictures to come... when we have more time. We're all just thrilled to have more females than males in this house. We're going to enjoy them while we can!

rich kids

We paid Ben and Luke $150 (each!) at the end of 2011. It sounds like a lot of money for two little boys, but these aren't your typical little boys.

They went an ENTIRE YEAR without candy (with the exceptions of their birthdays and Halloween Day) and they went 6 whole months (Jan-July) without ANY desserts (with the exception of cake on Luke's birthday). Did they think it was worth it? Absolutely. Did we- as parents- think it was worth it? Absolutely. They proved to be strong-willed and unbelievably determined.

Oh, how I love them.

terrible pictures taken on my cell phone.

I wrote a longer explanation about their candy challenge HERE. It was too long for my liking, but it needed to be written for the books. Anyway......

It's now the end of January and how much money have they spent? About $50 each and it was ALL on Christmas presents for others. I am in awe of them and their maturity. They are saving up for something incredible. They want to take our family on a trip to Legoland. I don't think Aaron and I will let them pay for the hotel, our tickets (or anything else for that matter) but they don't know that yet.... shhh!

I could go on and on and on about these boys and how much I love them. But I don't want you to come to my house in the middle of the night and steal them... or their money! Let me just say that they are responsible, kind and wise beyond their years. They set their alarm each morning, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, clean their room, do their chores, make their lunch for school, and THEN wake up the rest of the family for scripture reading. They are UH-MAZING. Every once in a while, I wake up early to help them, but they never need it, so I sit back and observe them. This morning, this is the conversation I heard (I was nursing the baby on the couch and they were talking in the kitchen).

Ben: Luke, I wish you could be a little more helpful when I am making our lunch.

Luke: When it was my turn yesterday, I made them.

B: But I got everything out for you.

L: Well, I didn't ask you to do that.

B: I know, but I was being nice. And I would appreciate it if YOU would help ME once in a while.

L: Oh.

B: All I am asking is that you get the yogurts out of the fridge. Or get me a baggie for the sandwiches. I do that for you all the time.

L: I didn't know you wanted me to help.

B: If you're in the kitchen when I am making them, you should just offer without me having to ask.

L: Okay. I can do that. Did you already get the yogurts out?

B: Of course I did.

L: Is there anything else you want me to help with?

Ben: No. (sighing) I've already done everything.

** By the way, this was SO NOT an argument. It was all spoken very kindly and quietly. I sat on the couch listening, trying so hard not to laugh. They sounded exactly like a married couple celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary. Their relationship is incredible. Having them 18 months apart was the best decision I've ever made as a young mother! I have never regretted it..

hag

This morning, I went to the grocery store looking like a hag.

In my defense, I only slept for about 2 hours last night. I was up early to get my kids off to school. My three littles don't give me any free time these days, so showering is not really an option until after lunch. Anyway, I wasn't planning on heading out in public, but our dear neighbors were sick with the nasty flu bug we had last week and they needed some things at the store. So, to the store I went, hag-like or not.

I tried to avoid all human contact while all the store, but alas, I ran into two friends! One I hadn't seen in over two years. That was "fun" to catch up. The other is the primary prez from my ward and she sees me dressed as Sister Friendly all the time (who is very haggish herself) so no worries. After my second encounter, I knew it was time to get out of that store... and fast.

While ringing up, all three of my kids started crying. Zack got his finger smashed by the cart. Simon wanted candy. Ro was hungry or tired.. or both. I was becoming more haggard by the minute. I thanked the cashier and smiled, in desperation, at the little 90 year old man bagging my groceries. He was moving ever so slowly. When he placed the last back in my cart, he looked at me in the eyes and said, "Wow! Do you work out? You are a real cutie-pie!" Before I could say a word, he continued to compliment me by saying, "You should be proud of yourself! You're looking great, especially with three little kids!" I was so surprised by this, I didn't know what to say, but I tell you what, I was ready to take on the world--- in my black stretchy pants and all!

I called Aaron on the way home to tell him that old men were hitting on me in the grocery store. He was super jealous. When I arrived home, I had Zack take a picture of me in all my beautiful glory. Sometimes a picture says more than words ever can.

Today I felt the power of a sincere compliment. I don't care if it came from someone who was blind and senile. It really lifted my spirits and made me remember what's important. I might look like a hag on the outside, but I've got potential.... Somewhere underneath the layers of dirt, sweat and spit-up, a real CUTIE-PIE resides.

life without clothes on

"Gimme my boobies back!"

has become a popular saying around these parts.

Every time her brothers say it, this girl smiles.

There's lots to say, but no time to say it. To sum things up, my life is beyond crazy and chaotic. I have officially become "psycho mom". Five kids has done me in. Zack has been throwing up for days. Simon either broke his collarbone or dislocated his shoulder playing "donkey" with Zack yesterday. Romy is the neediest baby we've ever owned. She wants to be held ALL day long.

This morning, I tried to calm everyone down with a bubble bath. The minute they were in the tub, Ro pooped in the warm water. Simon and Zack were out in a flash, running around with bubbles on their bums screaming about how disgusting it was. I was able to get some fresh water and get them back in and for 2 minutes they were ALL clean. While drying them off on my bed, I tried to take a cute picture of them, and this is all I got. Sometimes I wonder why I even try...

one of these days (not today) I am going to realize these kids are pretty cute.

boobs are like magic

last night was bunko. Around 10:30 pm I received a text from my husband. No words, just this picture:

I was already in the car when I got the text, but I pretended like I left the party early and rushhhhed home. Daddy was super impressed that I was there to rescue him 2.5 minutes after the SOS. When he says jump, I ask how high.

This is what she looked like 2.5 minutes after I arrived home.

boobs are like magic.

it's unfortunate my husband can't grow a pair.

Happy Birthday, Zack!

on the road again

Aaron and I talked extensively about how to simplify our family life in 2012. We wanted more quiet evenings at home. Scripture reading every night by the fire. Journal writing about things we are grateful for. Date nights after the kids are in bed. pretty simple goals, if you ask me.

We haven't done so well. In fact, these first few weeks of 2012 have been some of the most chaotic weeks of our married life. Two weeks ago we were in Arizona. We spent last weekend in Utah. Tonight I am writing from a comfortable bed at a Hilton hotel in California. Only three of our kids are with us. Ben and Zack wanted to stay with friends and we didn't have room for them in Aaron's car anyway. It's time to get a newer, bigger car for our family. We hope to sign our lives away on a 12 passenger van tomorrow. You heard me right.

Last Thursday was a really hard day for me. Aaron came home after a long day of work and a basketball game and told me "tomorrow will be better". But Friday Simon flooded the bathroom on the 2nd floor (water coming down from the ceiling in the kitchen). He also threw a basketball in Romy's face and bit her fingers... along with spreading a tube of toothpaste on Aaron's night stand and emptying a can of formula on the stairs. Later that night, Sunny broke off the faucet to our backyard hose. Water was spraying everywhere and I just wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out. Thanks to facebook (and some awesome friends and neighbors) the faucet was fixed in no time at all. When we went to bed on Friday, my optimistic husband told me to look at the bright side and said, "this will make a great blog post." Had I been in the right mood, it could have been.

Out of everything that's happened in the past few days/weeks the only things written in my handwritten gratitude journal are the lessons I've learned in quiet moments with Jane. I knew she was an amazing person when I first met her and I have grown to love her even more over the past 5 years of our friendship.. but I am completely BLOWN AWAY by her strength, powerful insight and testimony through this very difficult loss. She has taught me so much over the past few weeks. So grateful to have her in my life. Read her recent optimistic and emotional blog post HERE.

Hope to be home, back to "normal" and uploading pictures soon.

Love from Cali,

Janet

swinger

For the past few weeks, naps for Simon have been on an every-other-day schedule. The days he doesn't nap are brutal. Yesterday was supposed to be a nap day and boy! was I looking forward to it. After lunch Simon knew it was naptime and he went MIA. I looked for him for about 20 minutes and wondered if he had maybe fallen asleep somewhere because it was unusually quiet and clean! After calling his name and going through each of the upstairs bedrooms, I finally heard a giggle coming from the corner in the loft. He had been "hiding" in the baby's swing... such a sneaky little bugger.

When I finally found him, he laughed and said, "I swinging, Mom. Push me higher!" Eventually he went down-- and about 5 minutes later lil' Ro woke up from her nap. I can't seem to catch a break around here. Life is a bit crazy... and always full of surprises.

sweetest Jane

I just opened my laptop for the first time since Friday. I was so surprised to see that I had two new posts on my blog! I uploaded my Christmas letter and the baby's birth announcement weeks ago... and meant to save them as drafts, but apparently I set the date to publish in January.. and they did. Posting Ro's birth announcement a few days after my friend buried her baby seems very disrespectful and impious, but I think Jane will forgive me.

It's been an unbelievably long week. I've cried myself to sleep every night and tonight will probably do the same. It's amazing how emotional you can feel when someone you love is hurting. Jane told me today how exhausted she is each night and I can only imagine how drained she must feel, emotionally and physically. I have been completely wiped out and I am only a bystander in this tragedy.

We arrived home from Utah last night. The funeral services were beautiful. Yes, it was very sad and emotional, but it was such a special tribute to these two young, dedicated, wonderful parents. Jane's brother spoke about what an incredible mother Jane is and I couldn't have agreed more. She is the most playful, creative, musical, interactive and loving mom. My four boys absolutely adore Jane and want to be around her 24/7. Simon prefers her whenever we are together. He wants Jane to pick him up, open his candy, cut up his food, etc. "Jane's house" were two of Simon's first words and saying them in an excited manner has become kind of a joke in our family. A few months ago, Zack had drawn a really cool picture and brought it to me asking if we could drive to Jane's house. I asked him if he drew it for Jane and wanted to give it to her. Zack looked at me a little embarrassed and said, "No. I just want to show it to Jane." He knew that she would be so proud. Ben and Luke include Jane in their list of best friends and always make sure that her boys (who are years younger) are invited to their birthday parties because that will mean that Jane will come. They love going to Jane's house to play with her too!

I went to Jane's house this morning to pick up Zack. He had spent the night (long story... our van broke down in St. George. Rick and Jane were there to hang with us at Target and take Zack back with them. Another amazing friend drove up from Vegas to bail us out of our car problems and drive us home... what would we do without great friends???) Anyway, I went to pick up Zack this morning and see how Jane was doing. Little Vaughn, Jane's oldest, answered the door and told me his mom was in the shower. As he ran up the stairs to get her, he said, "Sit down and wait. If you get hungry, there's some food in the fridge. If you want to eat an orange, you can just take off the peel." He is such a little host! Jane came down with a towel wrapped around her hair. She took Roma out of my arms and held her and sang a song to her while rocking her in a chair. It was confirmed to me again what an amazing mom she is. What I wouldn't give to sing like Jane! Even though her baby boy never took a breath, I know he heard his mom sing to him. He is so lucky to have such a mother. I am so lucky to have such a friend.

This past week, I've wondered how I would handle such a trial in my life. I've realized that I am not as strong or as faithful or as diligent as I hope to be. I have become more dedicated to my family, to my scripture studies and my journal writing since I met baby Adam. The prayers I've offered in the past few days have been sincere and heart-wrenching. When something like this happens, being on your knees feels like the safest place to be. Little Adam's life was so short, but the impact he left on the lives of those around him was profound.

I hope when I grow up, I can be like my sweet friend Jane. Read a beautiful post recently written by her HERE.

Roma's birth announcement

love her.

christmas letter 2011

We had a BALL in 2011!

heartbroken

As the Holidays were approaching, I found myself looking forward to 2012. I knew that things would slow down in January and everything would get back to normal. Things never turn out the way you imagine.

On Tuesday, my sweetest, dearest friend, Jane, lost her baby. We have been anticipating the birth of her third boy for weeks now. Jane has been so patient and strong waiting for labor to happen naturally, but after many contractions and little progress, she made an appointment for a c-section. On the drive to the hospital, she felt him kick. When she was finally checked into the triage room and was hooked up to a monitor, they couldn't find his heartbeat.

I received a call as she was prepping for surgery and arrived at the hospital just before the procedure was finished. I witnessed the heartbreak of these amazing parents and loving grandparents hold their stillborn baby. I was humbled to hold him too. He was beautiful and perfect in every way. In my 32 years of life I have never been a part of anything so devastating and emotional.

For the past three days, I have been trying to help my sweet friend, who has been there for me so many times when I have felt alone. They have such an amazing support system of family and friends and it's so hard knowing that we can't do anything to fix the problem. We can only cry along with them and let them know how much we love them. Today is Jane and Rick's wedding anniversary. Jane had asked me a few weeks ago if I would watch her older boys overnight while she and her husband celebrated a quiet evening with the baby. Yesterday as Jane and I walked the halls of the hospital, we cried as we talked about how things don't turn out the way you imagine. I love and admire her so much more after watching her go through this experience. And I know that she and her husband will be celebrating their marriage with a new kind of strength that they've developed over the past few days. It's been a sacred experience watching these two cling together through such a trial.

They will bury their sweet little boy in Salt Lake in a couple of days. Aaron and I will drive up to Utah today to spend time with my siblings and be there for the funeral services on Monday. Please keep their family in your thoughts and prayers and hold your babies a little tighter.

For those interested in contributing to the memorial trust to help Jane's family defray the costs of the funeral and other related expenses, the information is below.

Adam Samuel Harris Memorial Account

Mountain America Credit Union

Account #9338463

4810 W. Desert Inn Road, Suite 1 Las Vegas, NV 89102

Las Vegas, NV 89102

(702) 251-5750

Donors may send through mail, by phone with credit card, online with bank-specific bill payment services, or by direct transfers for those who are credit union members.

pretty young thang

Baby Ro celebrated 3 months of life on New Year's Day. We love her more than words can articulate. She is happy and sweet and adorable and all of those squishy, lovely adjectives. She smiles a lot. I got the first laugh, but no one else was around to hear it, so Daddy says it doesn't count. She LOVES to cuddle and absolutely won't sleep unless she's 3 inches away from another human being.

This little Dolly has more dresses than a girl her age should be allowed to have. But I love her best without any bows or frills. If I had it my way, she would be a nudie cutie all day long. I cannot get enough of her scrumptious, buttery fat rolls.

Happy three months, darling Roma. We are thrilled you're here. and in your own way, you tell us you're quite tickled about it too.

.

New Years Eve 2011

so behind on the blog, but catching up on much needed sleep in more important.. so this is gonna be short.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 2012 is here and we couldn't be more excited. We celebrated with 7-8 other families in our neighborhood. We played games (pictionary & charades) until about 10 PM and decided that friends + games MUST happen more often. That will be a goal for 2012.

We came home, made some "puppy chow" (rice chex+chocolate+powdered sugar), got cuddled up on the couch and welcomed in the New Year with all five of our kids WIDE awake at midnight. We have the cutest, sweetest kids on the planet. I love them and admire their ability to party at such young ages.

Around 1:00 AM Aaron and I decided to pop open a bottle of bubbly and toast to the New Year in bed. We talked about our goals for the future and how blessed we are to have each other and the little people we've created. 2011 was SUCH an incredible year filled to the brim with blessings and happiness. We finally fell asleep around 3:00 AM. Not exactly the most responsible way to start off the New Year, but it will be a memorable one. So much to look forward to in 2012.