sickies

It's THAT time of year again. The time when boogers turn green, coughs keep us awake at night and kleenex is all over the house. Luke, Zack and Simon got hit the worst. The baby and I are stuffed up. Ben and Aaron are immune to everything-- or so they think. Ben won't miss a day of school unless he's on his deathbed. I did convince Ben to stay home from church, though (insert evil laugh). Aaron went early for meetings on Sunday morning-- but the rest of us stayed home, drank hot chocolate and finished our annual winter puzzle. We were able to finish it on the weekend, which was a Christmas miracle... with the kids in school these days, it's not like we have much time to sit around and fiddle our thumbs with puzzle nonsense. It was great weekend, even when we were all feeling under the weather. Christmas is in full bloom at this house!One of the things I remember about being sick as a little girl is my mom rubbing Vicks Vapor Rub on me and making me wear a towel around my neck. Over the years, my parents have discovered Essential Oils and have introduced them to all their grandkids. My boys LOVE to be rubbed down with oils. My husband hates them and thinks our house smells like a hospital, but they are my FAVE! I would link the website, but I am typing from my phone. My parents are essential oil wholesalers and that allows all of their kids to buy them extra cheap, even when they are living in South America. I don't know what our family would do without them. I even brush my teeth with deliverance. Anyone else want to bear their testimony about these healing oils? They are seriously amazing.

These are my cute little sickies last night before saying prayers. You can tell Zack is sick just by looking at him. He has been sleeping more than half the day... which means our house is incredibly quiet. Even though Simon is sick, he's still super busy. He drew on his tummy during FHE when Aaron and I were sitting just a few inches from him. He's such a little stinker... His shirt in the picture below says "boys will be boys" which fits Simon's personality to a T. Don't let that those puppydog eyes fool you.

Zack's nose has been running nonstop. Yesterday I caught him wiping his nose on his arm and told him to go wash his hands. A few seconds later, he came running out of the bathroom with his hands full of clear boogers, saying, "I sneezed before I got to the bathroom!" I was completely disgusted and freaked out. He laughed pretty hard and told me it was soap from the sink. I am still grossed out just thinking about that much snot!

Apparently, I am pretty gullible. Our Santa soap dispenser is filled with dark red soap (stupid if you ask me) but each of my boys have put the soap on their hands at different times and told me they were bleeding. ALL THREE TIMES I have fallen for it. I scream, ask them how they cut themselves, and run to get bandages before they burst out laughing. I swear, that soap looks exactly like blood! After four times of being duped, I've told them I'll never believe them again. Little boys who cried wolf.... I won't come running next time they're crying!!!!

Thankfully, I am feeling pretty good. Our kitchen is nice and warm because the oven is always on. I loved my mom's homemade bread and hearty soup when I was sick and so that's what we've had several nights in a row. I love taking care of sick kids! They are cuter and cuddlier when their temperatures are high.. let's hope they never get better! jk.

in 30 minutes or less

in 30 minutes or less, this child could ruin your life.

in 30 minutes or less, he emptied a bottle of baby wash and turned my bathroom floor into a slip&slide, put mascara on his eyelashes and the rest of his face, painted his fingernails red (only his left hand.. his right hand was doing all the work), squirt out a tube of professional hair color, filled the toilet with two rolls of toilet paper, AND spread minty toothpaste on the shower door.
You wouldn't believe what a perfect job he did on his nails unless I took a close-up. This is one talented little two year old, let me tell ya.
Simon is unbelievably difficult to keep tabs on. There isn't anything out of his reach because he will literally carry a stool or chair across the house to get what he wants. He is a do-it-himself kind of guy. The only time he isn't getting into trouble is when he's asleep. He doesn't sleep enough.
This 30 minute disaster was on Friday night... 30 minutes before Aaron came home from work. And not to rag on my husband or anything, but he was about an hour later than he said he would be-- which means it was ALL Daddy's fault.

*It seems appropriate to mention here that Simon emptied my flour canister (about 5 lbs) a couple of weeks ago. My kitchen was/still is a mess. There was white powder EVERYWHERE. Aaron was at the church late doing tithing settlement and I was feeding a baby just a few yards away from ground zero. It's amazing how quickly a little boy can turn your house into a war zone. I cried for an hour while cleaning it up. I wish so badly I would have taken pictures of the mess, but I was SO tired and SO upset that I didn't want to document it. And that is really saying something.

2 months old

Nothing but LOVE for this lil' Chubs.

It's beginning to feel like December!

I wish I had hours of free time to post the 500 pictures just uploaded from my camera. But I don't. So this is what you get today...

Lil' Ro is a fatty and we are crazy about her! When she's really hungry, I put her up to my face and force her to kiss me. She hates it, but I just can't resist a good make-out session. She has lots of nicknames.. at the top of the list are Birdie, Dolly and Stinkypants. The picture below was taken by Zack. We heart those chubby cheeks!

Zacky is still as wacky as ever. Yesterday while trying to get Stinkypants to laugh, Zack got two inches from MY face and in the highest-pitched voice he said, "Mommy, you're so cute, yes you are! And you're getting so big. Goo-goo ga-ga." I busted up laughing and he said, "I knew that would make you smile."

Luke was recently cast the lead role in his school Christmas play which is a complete shock to all those who have ever had a conversation with him. I am constantly asking him to talk louder at the dinner table, but he's always surprising us. The other day he came out of the bathroom with his hair slicked back with gel. He didn't say anything to anybody, just went about his regular business. When I wanted a picture, this is what he gave me. Maybe he has an ounce of drama afterall.

Ben wakes up at the crack of dawn every morning to get ready for school. He showers, makes breakfast and lunch for Luke, does his jobs, and then asks me if there is anything he can do before he goes to school. I almost convinced him to stay home the day before Thanksgiving break (because his teacher and half the school were gone anyway) but he wouldn't stay home. He's such a goodie-goodie. And that's one of the many reasons I love him so.

Sunny is a quiet, mellow dog when she's asleep. At one year, she finally had her first period. I thought about breeding her and then decided against having a newborn AND puppies at Christmas. We will wait a few months before we make our lives that much crazier. I still want Goldendoodles. She really is a pretty dog and we can't remember what life was like without her.

Aaron works overtime in every area of his life. I don't know how he does it. He had paperwork that needed to be filed earlier this week. When it wasn't shipped to his office in time, he had to jump on a plane and fly to California to get the project done. We dropped him off at the airport and for the next 24 hours straight Simon repeated over and over and over and over, "Daddy an airpane to Cornia."

Simon talks NONSTOP. It's so darling and it also makes me want to pull out my hair. From time to time he will open up the fridge, pull out something to eat (like a rotisserie chicken) and help himself to a meal. When the baby cries, he thinks that dancing in front of her while saying "Wuugga-wuugga" makes her happy. Roma doesn't really care, but the rest of us love it.

And then there's me. I love having a baby around, especially a girl baby. I spend all my time holding, feeding, burping and changing my little Dolly. Aaron says I spoil her, but I don't think it's possible to spoil a newborn. I wish I had more time for myself... more time to socialize, get out of the house, exercise, sleep, blog, read, shower or just sit in complete silence, but I know there will come a time for that. Right now, I am counting my blessings and enjoying the MOST wonderful time of the year...

Is the Colonel's underwear a matter of national security?

As a young girl, I spent many weekends and school vacations at my Grandma Roma's trailer home in Provo, UT. Sometimes a sibling, cousin or girl friend would come with me, but often it would be just me and Grandma. We would play games, sew, swim, feed ducks at the park close to her home and watch old classic movies together. If we couldn't decide on a movie to watch from her collection, we'd drive to a local movie rental shop and pick out a flick we had never seen before. This particular rental shop was also a pizza place and my Grandma would let me order the pizza just the way I liked it.. with pineapple and green peppers. One particular weekend, when I was about 13 or 14 years old, I ordered the pizza and Grandma picked out a movie that had just been released-- it was called A Few Good Men. I had never heard of the movie before, but Tom Cruise was in it, so I didn't object. I wasn't until we were half-way into the film that I realized the language was terrible. I looked at the back of the box and saw that it was rated R, and I knew my parents wouldn't approve. I sat through the next hour in conflicted. Should I tell my Grandma that she had picked out a "bad" movie and suggest we watch something else? We had already gotten wrapped into the plot and I wanted to see how it ended, but I felt terrible because I knew I shouldn't be watching it. The last scene was particularly uncomfortable for me because they threw around the F-word a handful of times. I remember looking over at my Grandma as soon as it was over, to see if she was as uncomfortable as I was. I'll never forget her smile as she said, "That was a great movie, wasn't it?" I remember laughing and telling her it was pretty intense. I wondered if she knew that a girl like me wasn't used to listening to such vulgarity, but figured her hearing aids weren't turned up and I let it slide. I think of my Grandma EVERY time I see a clip from that film or hear someone quote the famous line, "You can't handle the truth".

Last night (or rather early this morning at 2 AM) my baby was a fussy little thing. My husband was out of town and I decided instead of trying to fight the fussiness, I would get up, turn on the lights and figure out what was wrong with her. I changed her diaper, gave her a warm bath and tried to nurse her back to sleep. But she wasn't having it. She was WIDE awake. Around 3 AM, I turned on the television in my room and flipped the channels to see what was on. A Few Good Men was just starting on TBS or some other channel that edited each of the swear words into silly phrases that didn't match the lips of the actors. I got sucked in and watched the entire movie, commercial breaks and all. I couldn't help but think about my sweet Grandma and all of the time we spent together. I held my wide-eyed baby girl and during the commercial breaks, I told her all about the incredible woman she was named after. It was one of those full-circle moments. Little Roma is two months old today and I still have to pinch myself when I think about how long I've waited for this little girl to join our family. She is the sweetest, most beautiful little baby and I am so grateful she is mine and that I was able to name her after a woman who means so much to me.

This is Roma on Thanksgiving Day. The darling sweater and hat were made by a new (dear) friend.