I Think I Need Some Help...

A shirt on me, becomes a dress on Munchkin. She is seriously the perfect size for all my old shirts. I am going through all my old clothes and I found a ton that I can refashion for the girls. You know, ones that always fit weird on me...a couple of snips, a few new seams and VIOLA!! They really are that easy. And you can generally use the existing neckline, and sleeve and bottom hems. These sleeves turned out a bit too big so I need to put some elastic in the ends to make them poofy.

And my first attempt at yo-yos. She loves it and has agreed to share it with her sister who will wear it as a tunic. TA-DA! (Let the fighting over clothes begin!)

Now I only have about 30 more shirts that would be so cute as something else.

Please somebody help me!

(You know, like fold my laundry so I can sew.)

Siblings

Some days, at any given time, one or more of my kids are doing something they shouldn't be doing. It usually ends in someone screaming and or crying.

But some days, some moments, they actually get along.

...and seem to (heaven forbid) enjoy each other.
But it is usually only two of them at any given time.

Just Thought I'd Let You Know...

There are some cool things I have found (from other people's blogs) that have helped me out as a parent and as a person.

#1--I have a hard time reading my scriptures every day. There I said it. It is out in the open now. My home teacher gave us this calendar with Book of Mormon pictures and a reading schedule to read the Book of Mormon in a year. I think it breaks down to about 18 verses a day. I was doing really well with that, but at the end of the pregnancy, I was just too tired once I made it to my bed at the end of the day. And I fell behind. Then, I read about this website, and immediately signed up. You can set up your own schedule (I am reading it in 90 days) and they email you the reading every day. Once you have completed your reading for the day, you hit the completed button at the bottom of the page and they will send you your next reading assignment the next day. There is even an audio option available. So if I remember, I will listen to it while I nurse Squirt in the morning, or I will read while I pump. It is really working out well for me. I am a quarter of the way through the Book of Mormon.

#2--My kids love to play on the computer. We have a few toddler CD-ROM games for Munchkin that don't require mouse abilities, but the older kids love games on the internet. The problem with that was some of the games would have links to other sites, or YouTube videos that were approved had links to unapproved videos. So again, I found this on someone's blog. It is a special browser just for kids. It has all the sites for the popular kid TV shows, and you can add others. We added ET's reading website from his computer class at school. There are parental controls and no pop-ups. Just another way to keep your kids a little safer.

#3--I just set up the parental controls on the kids TV. I knew it was there but I had never looked into it. I set up a certain time window where they can watch TV and blocked anything rated worse than TV-Y7. The first day, they just about freaked out when the TV "turned itself off!" It was awesome!!! Now if they could just stop fighting long enough to find something to play with...

I don't know if any of this helps anyone else but it has really helped me.

Bloodfest

The kids wanted to go camping. Camping, right now, to us means in the backyard. We were waiting for a day where Hubby didn't work at night, and didn't have to go to work the next day. Thursday night, the cosmos aligned and, after Thumbelina tried to drown herself at Et's Karate pool party, hubby took ET and Thumbelina "camping" on the trampoline.

They all slept until about 8:30 the next morning, which is nothing short of miraculous since they usually wake up around 6.

Hubby got a few bug bites, Thumbelina about 6, and ET no less than 25. Bad Parenting 101--who needs bug spray when they are sleeping outside?!

Hey You--The Little One

Munchkin and Squirt get the brunt of our name switchery. Every time hubby calls a child the wrong name, I smile and say, "Hey you?" Squirt doesn't seem to mind--you know, seeing how she's only 9 weeks old. Munchkin doesn't mind either. But that's only because if you look at her and say someone else's name, she will assume you are talking to that other person...And continue along her path of destruction.

You can't help but adore this child. At times, she is a tornado of chaos furious enough to make you want to rip out your hair. She goes from one thing to another faster than you can blink. You have just finished cleaning up one mess, turn around and there are three more. Her favorite is the salt shaker. Every minute of every day, there is at least a little bit of salt on the floor, and the holes of the shaker are plugged from her constant licking. It is a frustrating game she plays.

Then she speaks. Oh how her little voice can just make your heart melt.

She wakes at the crack of dawn, before her baby sister, and strolls into my room.

"Mom, it's morning! Look, it's a beautiful day! Wake up!"

If you should ever yell at her, she responds with, "Mom, are you mad?"

Once you let her out of time out, she comes at you all smiles, "Mom, are you happy!?" or "Mom are you not mad?!"

But my favorite is, "How I look?"

Anytime she puts on a hat, a dress, shoes, a sticker...anything, really...she comes and says, "How I look?" And then she laughs. Makes you forget all the messes and destruction.

...Most of the time.

Jumperoo

Last Christmas we decided to change things up a bit. We (and by that we all know it means I) made a lot of the kids gifts, they got their one Santa present and then one big family present. Our big family present we decided would be a trampoline. Because, well, I never had one growing up. So a few weeks ago (yes, I KNOW it's July) we finally got it and hubby spent hours setting it up. (Hours-not because it was hard, mind you. First he had three little "helpers", and then he kept doing things out of order so he would have to undo a lot to get everything on right.)

The kids are having a lot of fun and a lot of fights. You know how kids are.

And Munchkin is afraid to jump if the other kids are jumping. So they must sit or stand while only she jumps. And then she sits while they jump.

I probably should mention that they played almost exclusively in the boxes for the first two days.

Bits and Pieces

My days can be measured by a series of beeps.

Beep, beep, beep. Time to pump.

Beep, beep, beep. Has it really been 2 hours already? Time to pump.

Hubby bought me this awesome watch (which makes me feel like I am the coolest 12 year old girl around!) so I can have an alarm to remind me to pump. Squirt only nurses first thing in the morning and then only takes about 10 minutes because there is so much milk after all night. Then I pump. And I pump, and I pump, and I pump. Every two hours until I go to bed. The good thing is I am making enough to feed her all day long, and I even have about 12 ounces left over every night. And I get to read my book while I am pumping--because what else can I do? It is hard to read a book in 10 minute increments. And my leg falls asleep every time! But I pump. Squirt is thriving on it. And I am not stressed out because I know my baby is getting enough food.

Oops--I am being summoned by the beep, beep, beep. Time to pump.

Slightly Above Average

Squirt went to the doctor Monday for her 2 month visit. (Can you believe it's been 2 whole months?!)



11.5 pounds and 23 inches of sweet happy goodness.

And then they gave her shots...not so happy.

You Knew This Was Coming

On the one hand: CRRRRRAAAAAAAAAP!

On the other hand: No more looking for pacifiers--you can't lose a thumb!

But on the first hand: You can't take away a thumb either!

Crazy Good Time

Last night I sewed. You know, when I should have been making sure everything was ready for church or sleeping or...even sewing the stuff for Thumbelina's party. But nope. I found a pattern on the internet and whipped these puppies up.

From start to finish, it took me about 20 minutes. Now I am going to have to make more. Now that I know what I am doing and can fiddle with the pattern a bit.
How cute are those?!

Grandmas

We are so lucky that our kids have such good grandmas (and grandpas.)

Not only are they great but they also have birthdays right next to each other. My mom's is the 8th and hubby's mom's is the 9th. Easy to remember, right?

So why am I just now getting around to this?

Because my laundry is done and my dishes are caught up. My floors are vacuumed and my bathrooms are clean.

That's right. I have neglected to mention my moms because I am finally back in the swing of doing my daily chores...and apparently I can only focus on one thing at a time.

So only two and three days late--Happy Birthday to the great Moms and Grandmas. We can't wait to see you in August!

Suckered

I have officially been talked into letting her have a birthday party.


Back to the sewing machine.

Chastized

My sister informed me I am not posting enough pictures of the new baby.

(Like she is one to talk but whatever!)

This is how we have to wrap her every night so she stays covered up. You can't see it, but the bottom of the blanket is held closed with a safety pin...

Otherwise she ends up like this...
And wakes up too early and I have to bring her to my bed to get her back to sleep.
The girls love playing with her (read smothering her), and especially love the vibrating chair --which we have affectionately named jiggly butt.
(Look at those scrawny chicken legs!)

New family pictures--since our last ones were before Munchkin--oops!

New kid picture. We did have a couple of those with Munchkin.
And as you can see, she is thrilled to death about her blessing dress from Aunt Rachel. We assumed she would be big enough to fit the 3-6 month one, but sadly she is not chunking up as quickly as Munchkin did.

This Is My Life

Broken down by hours:

Pump, feed, pump, rest.

Repeat.

(I am making enough for the little one but I am such a control freak, I need to know how much she is getting at each feeding or I attribute every cry to I AM STARVING MY BABY!!!)

Throw in dishes, cleaning the floor every 5 seconds because Munchkin is into everything, and loads of laundry from the poop machine (apparently Squirt was an appropriate nickname,) and by the end of the day I am worn out.

(And there are my shows that I need to catch up on but can only do during quiet time and after the kids go to bed because we implemented a no TV policy. (Being a parent and being able to make rules for just the kids is awesome!!) And don't forget all the blogs I have to read...)

Yesterday

I had a pretty good day yesterday. I didn't get everything done (not by a long shot!), but I did manage to get most of the laundry done. Here's how:

ET folded all of his own clothes. It wasn't a great fold job but he did it by himself and put them all away. And now that we know he CAN do it...

Then they decided to clean the bathroom for me. FANTASTIC!!! I had to touch up a few spots but it was a vast improvement.

Then they relaxed with a game of floatie frisbee.

Squirt has a ton of hand me down onesies. Just plain ole onesies. So I spent an hour sprucing them up. You see, this is why I save my scraps! The only problem is now the other kids want stuff on all of their shirts.

We heard about this website (Zenni Optical) that sells $8 prescription glasses. (Now they have more options and better frames but they start at $8) Hubby broke his glasses a few months ago and has since just been making due with tape and his contacts. But once we heard about the website, he went to the eye doctor to get a new prescription and he ordered three pair. I think it is $5 shipping no matter how many pairs you order. So for less than $50 he has three pairs of glasses. They came yesterday while he was at work so Munchkin modeled them for him.

So now that laundry and the bathroom are done, today I just have to work on the kitchen and finishing up all my half done sewing projects--you know like the dress I made for Thumbelina last summer but never finished because I don't do button holes. I found hammer-on snaps that work perfectly--and take 2.5 seconds! But now, I have to add another layer on the bottom to make it long enough. The nerve of that girl--growing before I finish the dress!