Sleep, Baby, Sleep

It all started a couple of weeks ago. After we took Brendan 's pacifier away, there was nothing to soothe him back to sleep when he woke in the middle of the night. Not wanting to get another kid into the routine of crawling into bed with Mom and Dad in the middle of the night (there's just not room for FIVE of us in there!), I had the brilliant idea to put him in bed with Evan. It worked like a charm! He went right back to sleep and stayed put till morning!

A few nights later, Evan had gone to spend the night at the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa Knapp while they were visiting, so when Brendan woke up, I just put him in Evan's bed again, but climbed in with him, you know, just until he fell asleep. Problem was, he didn't fall asleep. He tossed and turned and kicked me and kept trying to get out of bed. I kept pulling him back in the rubbing his back, praying he'd fall asleep soon. I guess I was the one to fall asleep soon, because the next thing I knew, I was hearing a chair being pushed across the kitchen floor. I leapt out of bed and ran down to find out what was going on. Brendan had a cup perched on the water dispenser on the fridge and he was pushing a chair through the dark kitchen so he'd be tall enough to fill his cup!

A few days after that, as I carried Brendan to his bedroom for the night, he pointed into Evan's room and grunted. I asked if he wanted to sleep with Evan? Yes! That was exactly what he wanted! So I decided to try it out and lo and behold, he went right to sleep! Of course, the next morning around 6:15, I was downstairs teaching seminary in my new basement classroom and I heard, "MOM! MOM!" and found Brendan making his way down to me in Seminary. He won a seat in my lap for the last 20 or so minutes of class.

So we've been off and on letting him sleep with Evan. Dani threw up on Emily's bedspread cover and while it was in the wash, she got in on the fun too. Some nights, things go smoothly and he goes right to sleep, and others he plays around and has to be put back in his crib.

And then today happened. Brendan woke up very early and Jason took him into our bed while I was teaching Seminary. Shortly after I was done, Brendan came down and started demanding food, but yelled at me over everything I offered. Not one to enjoy being screamed at by a toddler, I decided he'd gotten up too early and plunked him back in bed. Oh, he was mad about that one. And then suddenly the screaming stopped. I figured he'd gone back to sleep. Then, he appeared downstairs. What???? Did Jason get him out of bed and send him down to me? No, he's not dumb enough to do that. One of the kids? When I checked with them, all said no. Very mysterious. Could he really have figured out how to get out of bed?? Nah.

Then came naptime today. Plunked him in bed. Went to lay down myself for a bit. Heard a door close. What? No! But I had to go see. And there was the little booger on the stairs, just pleased as punch with himself! So that was the last straw.....

He loves the big boy bed. Jumped right in it and didn't even attempt to get out.

The question now is -- is this the end of the story, or the beginning of a WHOLE new one???

Lemme tell ya a story.....

Evan and I were running errands together yesterday and he was chattering away in the back of the car. I hope I'm not the only who basically ignores most of what their kids says when they get into this kind of mode -- non-stop talk about nothing in particular, resulting in lots of "uh-huhs" and "oh yeah? 's" from Mom.

We were in this mode yesterday, and I suddenly realized that Evan was actually SAYING something, telling me all about a story he'd heard. It was about a boy named Elmo. Elmo didn't think Jesus was real and the told everybody that Jesus wasn't real and they all did bad stuff. But Elmo's dad knew that Jesus was real and he told Elmo that he was, but Elmo didn't believe him and he was a bad guy. And then ONE DAY, and angel came and he told Elmo that Jesus was really real!

OHHHHH..... Elmo! You know... Elmo the Younger... sometimes known as Alma?


After sharing his story, he asked me to tell him some more stories -- ones about Nephi.. So I told him a couple, then about Ammon fighting off the Lamanite robbers and teaching King Lamoni. He was very impressed by that one (aren't all little boys impressed by a hero? Especially one who chops off bad guys arms), so trying to emphasize the greater moral of the story, we talked about missionary work and how great it was to help people who were bad, like Elmo the younger (can't help it, I may never call him Alma again) to learn about Jesus and become good guys. This exchange followed:

Me: Did you know that when you grow up, YOU can be a missionary?
Evan: I can?
Me: Yep, you can be like Uncle Chris! Maybe you'll go to Hong Kong and teach people there, just like him.
Evan: Um... no, I don't want to go.
Me: But Evan, going on a mission would be choosing the right.
Evan: But I'm going to grow up and live with you!
Me: Well you could go on a mission and then come back a live with me.
Evan: Um, no. I'll choose the right, but I don't want to go on a mission.
Me: Hm... what if I go on your mission with you?
Evan: YEAH!


I am recording this one for the future to throw at him when he tells me he hates my guts!

A first day to remember!

Well, it was traumatic, but the kids survivied their first day of school! It started out like most first days of school -- cute hair, cute clothes, new backpacks, new lunchboxes -- lots of excitement. We walked the kids over to the school with all the other kids on the street and got the girls into the gym and in their teachers' lines. When I told Dani to kiss me goodbye, she smooshed she cheek next to mine -- when I said, "No, a kiss!" She mumbled, "but I don't want to!" Apparently first grade is too big to kiss your mom now! Then Jason and I left, thinking they'd have an exciting day at school.

And an exciting day it was! Around 3, I was getting ready to go get them from school and the sky got dark. Then it started thundering like crazy and the rain started beating down. Jason and I stuck our heads outside to check out the storm and heard the loudspeaker at the school annoucing that all the parents that were waiting outside for their children had to come inside and they would not be releasing the kids from school because of a tornado warning. No tornado ever happened near us (supposedly there were 3 in the Chicago area), but the kids were after school for nearly an hour, sitting in the hallways, bathrooms and interior classrooms, next to the walls, indian-style, with their heads in their laps! From the kids accounts, it sounds like everything was kind of chaotic. Emily's teacher was on car duty, so no one was in her classroom. Our neighbor across the street was one of the parents that had to go into the school for safety and he said he could hear kids screaming in the halls and at one point, he saw his own first-grade son wandering the halls by himself! According to the girls, they were both scared and cried. Dani ended up in the same bathroom as a girl from our ward, who sat with her and comforted her and even gave her some candy. Once the storm subsided, they made all the kids return to their classrooms for roll and then FINALLY released them to their parents -- the girls finally were back in Jason's possession 50 minutes after school should have let out!

But that wasn't the end of the storm. Within a couple of hours, it started up again -- more intense and much longer than before. We barbequed for dinner, and luckily, the storm didn't start up again until Jason brought all the food in, but during dinner, all hell broke loose -- constant thunder and pouring rain -- our street flooded to anke depth, the water was into people's yards! There were rivers flowing through everyone's backyards to the drain the back corner of our yard. And it all continued until probably 2 or 3 a.m. The kids all woke up in tears and Jason and I them up and each slept with 2 kids. As I went to sleep that night the thunder was literally constant and I remember thinking, "I love a good thunderstorm, but this is getting ridiculous!" I imagine the storm that the Nephites experienced before Christ came to the Americas was something along the same lines!

The next morning, the weather was better, but the day before had left quite an impression. Dani didn't want to go back to school, but once she did, she had a good day. They definitely won't be forgetting this first day of school for a long time!

Siblings

Jason's parents are visiting this week. It is becoming a tradition for the to take a couple of the kids back to the hotel with them a few times over their stay and last time they were here, Evan has his first taste of this special priviledge. On Sunday night, Emily and Dani went with them, and on Monday, Evan got to go and chose Emily to go with him. I was a little surprised by this, since he and Dani play together a lot more than he and Emily do. While we were eating dinner, I asked him why he hadn't chosen Dani and the following ensued:

Evan: Well..... I love Dani, but I don't like her.
Dani: WHAT???? You don't love me?
Evan: (reaching for Dani to comfort her) No, Dani I DO love, you, I just don't like you!
Dani: (runs from the table in tears)
Evan: I do love her, Mom!

Honestly, if Evan doesn't LIKE Dani, its her own fault, with how much she loves to antagonize him, but everything was resolved and apparently tonight he loves AND likes her because they are both at Grandma and Grandpa's hotel. This should be an interesting dynamic to watch as they grow.....

Can I keep him frozen in this position for 3 weeks?

My poor baby. Brendan got his hand caught in the treadmill yesterday. Luckily, Dani was there and saved him -- she got the treadmill turned off and pulled his hand out before I could even respond his screams. Of course, we suspect that Dani may have had something to do with Brendan getting his hand stuck in the first place, but I'm just going to focus on the fact that she did indeed save his hand.

Its ugly, oh its so ugly -- his fingers are raw and the worst area is burned through the layers of skin and everytime I see it I am stabbed with guilt that I failed to protect the little guy from a dangerous situation.

Jason took him to the emergency room, where the doctors and nurses were amazed at how little he cried. He is a really tough little guy. They x-rayed him (no broken bones), and wrapped up his hand, which basically has a 2nd degree burn between his pinky and ring finger, and sent him home, where within a couple of hours, he had yanked off the bandages, and he has continued to pull offf every attempt we've made at wrapping his hand, so he walks around with his hand hugged to his chest and does everything left handed (sadly for him, he's the only one of our kids that isn't left handed). The only time he cries is when he wants to go outside and I won't let him becuase I KNOW he'll make a beeline for the sandbox and the sandbox is not at all conducive with keeping a wound clean! I am trying to keep him occupied by mesermizing him with kiddie tv shows. When it works, it works great, but every once in a while, he actually wants to get up and move. My poor baby, poor poor baby. Hopefully he'll never remember any of it. I wish I could have the same luck!

10 years and 5 days

It is probably worth mentioning that Jason and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on Sunday. We celebrated by re-enacting our honeymoon -- driving across the central plains -- only this time with the products of our 10 year union in tow. I still remember the day pictured above so clearly, could it possibly have been 10 whole years ago? I'm kinda caught up on the numbers thing -- it has been causing me to reflect on the many numbers that there have been in our marriage.

1 – complete car breakdown in the middle of nowhere
2 – car accidents
2 – traffic tickets
2 – flat tire emergencies
3 – sets of couches

5 – times we moved
5 – colleges attended (and 1 career change deferred for the greater good of the family)
6 – cars we’ve owned
6 – employers
7 - surgeries – 5 major (4 C-sections, plus Dani's heart surgery) and 2 minor (Brendan's ear tubes and Evan's hernias) and chickened out on 1 (Jason's knee surgery -- the right decision, since it got better on its own!).
10 – computers that we’ve gone through
12 – fish we’ve killed
15 – church callings
17 – rooms we’ve painted…. in 20 different colors!
20 – birthdays!
161 ½ -- weeks of pregnancy, producing 4 beautiful children

Yeah, its been a busy 10 years. They said I was crazy to marry this weird, shy New Englander -- my bishop at the time actually tried to talk me out of it! What wisdom I showed at the tender young age of 19 to choose my cute boy. I'm ready for another 10 years!

Still here

Yes, I've been AWOL for a while. Thanks to those who have emailed to make sure I'm still alive. I am. Alive, that is. And here's a few blogs to prove it. Can't promise to post more frequently, since seminary starts in a week and a half (sob), but when I do post, I promise to put lots up at once!

Fond farewell

While on vacation, Brendan got extra attached to his pacifier, or "Fa FA," as he calls it. When we got home, he wanted it all the time and I got so sick of that perma-drool ring around his neck that I decided it was time to say good bye to the beloved fa-fa. So when he wasn't looking, I snipped the tip off with some scissors and the next time he asked for it, he got a little surprise. He brought it to me with a look of concern on his face. "Oh no!" I exclaimed. "Its broken! Guess we better throw it away!" Poor little Brenny nodded..... and threw that fa fa away all by himself!



So far so good since then. When he asks for it, I just remind him that it broke and we threw it away. I hope it lasts!

Superboy!!!

Vacay

We just got back from Utah this week. It was a crazy trip! My dad volunteered to fly out and help me drive the kids out, so I took advantage of that and he flew in on Thursday night, we loaded the kids in the car and drove 13 hours to Cheyenne, stopped at a hotel, let the kids play in the pool and get their energy out, then went to sleep, got up at 1:30 am and drove the remaining 6 hours to Layton and got there in time for breakfast! Lucky for me (and hopefully for Dad too) I had a pretty bad case of insomnia during the drive, so I was actually able to do some of the driving!

The week was lots of fun, playing with Grandma and Grandpa and baby cousin Rhees and Aunt Rachel, Uncle David and Aunt Lani, with a little smidgen of Uncle Ryan and Aunt Adrienne too.

We played at a really cool aquatic center in Clearfield and went school shopping and saw Temple Square in SLC. The highlight for me was shopping, scrapbooking and generally playing with my mom and sisters. The kids favorite was probably going to Lagoon. See the joy and happiness that abounded below:

One of my favorite moments was at the Visitor's Center at Temple Square. The kids were really into all the cool displays, but were the most excited to go see the Christus on the second floor. We finally headed up there, sat down in front of the statue and listened to the recording, which begins something like, "I am the Light and the Life of the World..." Evan scooted over to me and whispered, "Mom, is the real Jesus inside that statue?" "No," I answered, "its just a statue that looks like Him." Evan looked very upset at this and protested, "But, then why did he say, 'Hi, I'm Jesus!'?"

The drive home was long. We took it in 3 days and stopped to see my 7th grade locker partner/college roommate, Katie Koski, I mean Stewart. It was fun to see her and catch up a bit. Other than family, I don't think I've kept in touch with anyone else I've known over the many moves that our family made in my life except for Katie. Now if I can just figure out a way to get her to Plainfield.....

We had fun. And can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa and Aunts and Uncles at Christmas. Its also good to be home though. There's just no place like home.