Craziness in 5 seconds flat!

Yesterday morning I woke up with what I am assuming is a cold.  My voice sounds awful and my nose is a little runny.  I learned today that not having much of a voice is not a good thing.  Bridger, Macie and Emy were all playing outside and Jursey began to cry to be fed.  While I was making her a bottle Paisley was standing on the edge of her bassinet...probably trying to give her a binky...she is such a little mommy.  Well just as I got to Jursey with her bottle, Paisley sneezed.  She bonked her nose on the edge of the bassinet and began to cry.  I was just sitting down to feed Jursey when I looked up to say "its okay", and blood was pouring out of her nose.  I attempted to yell for kids to help me and they didn't come.  I laid Jursey down on the floor...she was screaming at this point because she had gotten just a swallow of milk and then I took it away and set her down.  I opened the front door to find all three of the big kids in the middle of the road talking with their cousins.  I attempeted to yell for Bridger and he couldn't hear me -- Stupid Cold!  I finally got their attention and they all came back home to see what I needed. 

I laid Paisley down in the bathtub, and had to change her diaper...I realized I should have done that several minutes ago when the kids told me she stunk...I then turned on the water and started washing her hands and face off and she was coughing a lot and blood was coming out of her mouth.  Jursey was screaming in the living room and then the kids said someone is at the door.  I was hoping it was Robin coming to visit for a minute, but no such luck.  It was a stranger here to pick up some vinyl.  Luckily I had spoken with her earlier that day and told her I would set it outside in the milk box in case we weren't home.  She gave Bridger her money and took her vinyl and left.  I can only imagine what was going through her head.  I had two kids screaming from opposite ends of the house.  Three kids wondering out loud how Paisley got a bloody face.  And a mom no where to be seen.  Awesome!

Now I need to go email that stranger and let her know that had she been here 5 minutes earlier or 5 minutes later my house would have seemed normal.

(I love this picture of Paisley.  This is what she does when you tell her to smile.)

(this is my sweet baby when she is content and has a full belly)

Bed Time

We love summer at our house.

Generally at bed time we can be found in the back yard doing things like this

and this

and posing for a cute picture like this

or this

{I love how Emy is looking up at her daddy...so cute!!}

or we can be found helping Daddy screw in some screws on the back steps 

{did you notice his awesome tan lines...nope those aren't socks!}

I love summer nights and I am already getting bummed out that school is going to start this month. 

What are we going to do when we have to start enforcing bed time again?

Just what sisters are for...or not

Today I was taking some pictures of Paisley and Jursey while all the other kids were gone playing at friends houses. 

Paisley decided to do this

unfortunately this is common for her to do. 

If we get after her and tell her no, then she gets the saddest face you have ever seen--with her bottom lip all pouty and it breaks my heart.

Then she proceeded to do this

I laughed so hard and of course Paisley thought she was adorable. 

Jursey, on the other hand, didn't find it too funny.

Markers and babies don't mix

Note to self:
Even though you can see your children doesn't mean they aren't getting into trouble.

The other day I was working on some vinyl stuff in the office and I could see Paisley about 15 feet away playing contently with the kids coloring stuff.  Needless to say I didn't know she could take the lids off of the markers. 

Sew Fun

One of my good friends brought me over some of her scrap material {super cute scrap material too!} a few weeks ago, and after a trip to the fabric store to buy some more material to add to what she had given me I found a pattern on Etsy and made these darling dresses for my darling little girls.

I love sewing and this was a good napping alternative...I had been wanting (or taking) a nap every day--stinkin' pregnancy-- and this helped keep me awake and give me something to look foward to doing for a couple of days.

I have lots more fabric left...now I just need to find the time away from vinyl to sew!

Right vs. White

This morning Bridger and Macie were arguing over if Paisley could eat a cookie.  Bridger was saying it was too big and Macie was saying it would be just fine to give it to her.  Bridger was standing by me and said that it was too big, and don't give it too her, and then I tapped Bridger and said, "you are right".  So he yelled out to Macie, "Mom said don't give it too her, and I'm white". 

I just giggled, and said, "no, you are right" and he said (as he is touching the skin on his arm) "I am too white"

Funny kids!  They make me smile every day.

The other day while Emy and Macie were taking a bath, I asked them what color their hands were.  They held them out and said brown.  I asked them what color my hands were and they both said peach.  Then I told them to turn their hands over (palm side up) and tell me what color they are.  As they were turning them over they both yelled out brown, and I said nope, look again.  Emy got the cutest look on her face and said, "they are peach just like yours!"  Then I showed them the bottoms of their feet, and that they are like mine too.  Emy has been facinated by this ever since.  I catch her looking at her hands and turning them over and over, with a cute little smile on her face...like she is magic! 

Priceless!

On another good note, as you can tell by the picture, my sweet little Emy is potty trained!!!  Yeah!    She has been for about 5 weeks, it is so nice!   But before too long I will have two in diapers again, I will enjoy it until then though.

And these are my other two loves...

Paisley's 1st Birthday

Dear Munchie,
You are such an easy going baby.  You rarely get upset or sad and you are so sweet and smiley.  You are such a daddy's girl and he loves every minute of it.  You just learned how to crawl about a month ago, so you aren't close to walking yet.  This just shows how easy going you are.  You are so patient and laid back.  You did so well with physical therapy this last year for your torticollis--your head leanined to one side.  You are all done with therapy now and we are glad.  You didn't mind going at all, but it is nice to know that you hold your head straight up now and we won't need to worry about it any more. 
You got your nick name because you always put everything in your mouth...even if it isn't food...and even if it is something you can choke on (unfortunately).  So we all call you munch or munchie or muncho or muncho-via...you get the idea.  Aunt Christine thinks that is so silly that we call you that, and still laughs every time she comes to visit and hears us call you munchie. 
You have been sleeping through the night since you were only 6 weeks old...thank you so much!  You take a big long nap during the middle of the day while Bridger and Macie are gone at school, and I am able to get a lot of things done.  You love helping me with laundry, you throw everything on the floor that I have just folded, and I tell you "No" and you smile and throw some more things on the floor.  You think it is great fun and I generally wait to do laundry until you are taking a nap now!  You are a little turkey!
We love you so much and are so thankful to have you as part of our family!  Happy Birthday!

Time out from Vinyl...Time for me to enjoy my kids

I have been unbelievable busy with my little vinyl business the last 3 months.  When I started this I honestly just thought it would be awesome for Jay to spend the money for me to have a little side business, when secretly I thought it wouldn't go anywhere, but I could have all the vinyl I ever wanted.  It is amazing what moving so many times has done to make a business grow.  We have people calling us from all most all the wards that we have lived in wanting vinyl...sometimes at all hours!  Then we put together a website and things got even more busy.  I generally get about 15-20 orders a week on top of that I was doing 6 wards super saturdays, and I did three craft fairs.  I went a little crazy, but I just kept thinking that I really loved what I do.  I had a hard time at night after working several hours (like anywhere from 7-16 hours a day for six days in a row for the last three months).  Plus I was being asked to take family pictures for people that I adored, so I didn't want to turn them down.  I was completely overwhelmed I was struggling with not being able to feel like a mom.  Even though I was home, I didn't feel like I was really a stay at home mom. 

I was toying with the idea of taking the last two weeks of December off, and last night was the final push to take the remainder of the month off.  (Don't worry for those of you that have ordered, I will finish up your things this week...I planned on that from the time I made this decision...plus it is some of my Christmas money!)

I had been working in the office again for several hours yesterday and Paisley's favorite thing to do while I am working is dump out the garbage can in the office (so it is mostly just paper and vinyl stuff) and that intertains her for several hours a day.  I let her do it and then clean it up when I am done each night.  Well I put her to bed around 7:30 and she was asleep in just minutes.  I had gone back in her room atleast three times in the next 30 minutes or so to put things away and she was just sound asleep.   Then Jay got home at 8:30 with a movie and we all got ready for bed and were laying in our room waiting for him to finish checking his email (he has an online business too) and all of a sudden Paisley started screaming.  This is our very melow child, so this was very out of character for her.  I thought it was strange and was thinking I should go check on her, when I could here Jay coming down the hall to see what was going on.  Bridger went with him and came running back in the room saying he thought Paisley was sick because dad says he thinks she wants to throw up.  I got up to see what was going on, and took her into the bathroom.  I could tell she wasn't acting normal and I told him I thought she might have something in her mouth.  Every couple of seconds she would get really big eyes and fling her arms around and then she was fine.  We got out a flash light and looked in her mouth and sure enough there was something in it.  When we would lay her on her back to try to get at it, then it would block her airway.  I could tell it was a peice of plastic of some sort, and we would try to get it out it wouldn't move.  We tried getting out and several times over a couple of minutes and she kept gagging on it and throwing up, and every time we would try to get at it again, she couldn't breathe. 

I told Jay to call 911, she was screaming this whole time too, any time she could breathe she was screaming.  Jay told them what was going on and I said a silent prayer to my Father in Heaven for help as the dispatcher was sending out an ambulance.  I just kept thinking I didn't want what ever was in her mouth to permantley get stuck in her throat.  I turned her over one last time and grabbed at the peice of plastic one more time and got it out.  Jay let the dispatcher know and they had the ambulance turn around.

Then we all let out a sigh of relief and Jay, me, Bridger and Macie all started sobbing.  (Emy had fallen asleep during all of this)  I cried off and on for a good hour or two and just kept thinking that we were so lucky she was okay.  I was so greatful that she was able to get our attention and let us know something was wrong.  Earlier that day I had opened up a package of paper and she had gotten part of the plastic wrapper in her mouth.  I have no idea how long she had it in her mouth, but we feel so blessed that she is okay.  I couldn't have imagined what would have happened had it been once we had all fallen asleep for the night.  I am thankful to my Father in Heaven for the wonderful children that I have been blessed with and that he watches over and protects us. 

One thing that was funny, not at the time though, was we were all in our PJ's (also known as underware) when we were on the phone with 911.  I yelled to Bridger to go and grab me my PJ's (a T-shirt and shorts), he had been gone for a while and so I called his name again.  He came running to the bathroom just pushing his arm through his sleeve.  I said go get my pajamas, he said "It's okay, I don't want pajamas, I want to wear clothes, is this okay?"  As he motions to the shirt that he is wearing.  I said I need pajamas!!   He then caught on and ran and got my PJs, and then I sent him to get something for Jay to wear.  I could just imagine opening the door to the paramedics in our undies...it would have been priceless!

Paisley

 

She is getting so big! I just had to post this picture that I found when I down loaded my pics just now.

Things I've Learned This Summer

So far this summer I have learned that:

1. I can successfully take all four kids some where by myself and not want to pretend they belong to someone else. They have all grown up so much over the last few months and they are turning in to great listeners...some are already great listeners (Macie), some are evolving (Bridger), and some are still in their own little world (Emy), and sweet little Paisley is just along for the ride.

2. Flip flops are now called floppers. We bought the kids all some flip flops and any time we would ask them to go put on their shoes Emy would tell everyone to put on their "flip flop floppers" and soon it just turned into to floppers. Now all of us, parents included, call their shoes floppers.

3. I have learned that even though twisting Macie's hair is super cute, it isn't a permanent hair do. This I should have known better, but I twisted her hair the week before Easter (all week long too...might I add). Once we do this to her hair she won't let me touch it for a good couple of weeks...I can't blame her though, it takes forever. Well I left it in too long (way too long), and when we finally took it out it took about 2 hours. She hated it (and me) by the time I was done.

4. I have been reminded of my love for yard work. We didn't do anything with our yard (weeds) last year and this year we have finally started. We have our front flower beds in and lots of trees in the back yard. We had two dump loads of gigantic bolders dumped in our back yard, so our next plan is to put those all in place and mix several truck loads of soil pep in our flower beds in the back yard (that makes weeding so much easier). Then one day we will work on putting in the grass! Hopefully sooner than later!

5. I have found that I look foward to Wednesdays. This is the day Jay and I mow lawns all day long (we are up to 34 lawns now). It is actually nice to get outside all day and not worry about my little kids running in the road or falling off of something or running inside to go potty (the kids not me...well, sometimes me) or fixing food all day long (I swear my little kids eat all the time). It is just nice to listen to my music and think without interuptions. Then when I am all done, it is so fun to see how excited my kids are when I get to Grandma's to pick them up.

6. I have learned that the anticipation of waiting for my garden to grow is sometimes hard to stand. I am so excited to see how it will turn out. I wish that a few months ago I had learned about square foot gardening (thanks Jodi for the info), but that will have to wait till next year.

It has been a great summer so far and hopefully I will continue to learn new things each day. I love my little kids so much and each day I am reminded how lucky I am to be their mom. They are so fun and make me laugh all the time.

If only it was always this easy

The other night our kids all fell asleep in the living room. Bridger and Macie fell asleep watching Jay and I exercise and then while Jay and I were talking after we were all done we realized Emy was also sleeping, and of course the baby was asleep for the night (because we are that lucky).

I just had to take a picture of how they all fell asleep. It was just so cute.

Bridger and Macie piled under pillows on the couch



Paisley asleep in Jay's arms


and Emy asleep on Jay's shoe...that he was still wearing.


They are all just too cute...especially when they are sleeping. I am such a sucker for sleeping kids.

Sweet Dreams

I don't know how I got so lucky.

My sweet little baby has slept from 10pm till 10am the next morning for the last two nights. She has been sleeping through the night for a few weeks, but just recently she started sleeping an extra 3 hours.

I probably just jinxed myself...hopefully she will continue to sleep well!

I do however get woken up by two very loud and very tired little girls fighting over who gets to lay by mommy when they wonder out of their room in the middle of the night. Occasionally a punch is thrown (not by me or Jay!).

In the middle of the night reasoning with our children is out of the question. Generally Macie wins being by my side so I can avoid a punch to my own face and Emy lays on top of me till they are both back asleep.

Where is Bridger in the middle of the night? We had to bribe him with a Nintendo DS to get him to stay out of our room. He had to sleep in his own bed for 100 nights in a row. He did great and now regularly sleeps in his own bed. Occasionally we wake up in the morning with him laying at our feet. He knows if he tries to lay by us then we will send him back to his own room or have him lay on the floor next to our bed.

So even though I have a little tiny baby who sleeps through the night, I still don't...and honestly I can not even remember the last time I slept all night long. But in the morning the kids are worth it all...just don't ask what I think of it when I have two kids smothering me at 2am.

Paisley's Photo Shoot

We decided to take Paisley's pictures today and she did really well. We got several good pictures of her and we are excited how they turned out. This new camera will eventually pay for itself!
The other kids all wanted to be in every picture, but we managed to keep them on the side lines.
She is getting so big. She has already gained more than one pound. We had to take her to the doctor yesterday. We aren't sure if she has acid reflux or a touch of a stomach bug, but my guess is that it is reflux. She does really well as long as she is held or sits in her swing...so she has been sleeping in her swing the last two nights and has done great. It even helps her sleep longer between feedings which is nice for me.

No Comment

Not that leaving comments on my blog is mandatory, but when someone does it is always nice. I would blog even if no one read it, but it is fun to hear what people have to say about our little world. Well I posted about Paisley being born and I would randomly check to see who commented and no one ever did. I was kind of sad, then I came to find out that something was wrong with my comments portion of the blog and it wasn't letting anyone leave comments! I guess that I shouldn't be sad if I caused the problem! I figured this out last night and solved the problem...I think. One of my friends emailed me to let me know that she couldn't comment on the my blog, so I would have figured it out eventually! (Thanks Andrea) Well on a good note, Macie can hula hoop! It is pretty cute to watch her. The hula hoop is all bent out of shape too, but she can still do it. Yes, she is in just her under ware again, I try to keep her dressed but it doesn't last long!

Our Baby is Here!!!

Paisley Ireland Anderson was born on Friday Decemeber 12 at 12:21. She weighed 6 lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She is such a good little baby. She only cries when we give her a bath. She is sleeping really well at night (for a new born) and we couldn't ask for a better little baby.
Labor went fast and we were very glad that we got enduced when we did. I was dialated to a 4 when we got to the hospital and after I was all hooked up on PIT and had my wonderful epidural, it was only a few hours till she was born. It took till about noon to be dialated to 6 cm, but then at 12:15, they went to put a heart moniter on the baby's head because they were getting a good reading on the one that was straped to my belly and when they went to put it on they said I was ready to push! I turned to Jay, who was reading the paper, and said did you here that and he said yeah, they are putting something on her head. I said no, we are ready to have a baby, and he said okay, while still reading the paper. I said, Jay, I am dialated to a 10, we are going to have a baby right now. And he said, oh, really! And then jumped up and was ready for the action. Then about 6 minutes later she was born.



The kids were pretty funny at the hospital. Bridger of corse did great and was excited to see and hold his new little sister. Macie would look at her but not touch her or hold her. Emy wouldn't leave my lap. She didn't want to look at the baby and if you asked her where Paisley was she would say "over there", and they I would say is that your new sister and she would say "no".

Now that we are home they are all doing great and can't get enough of her. Thankfully Emy will admit to having a new baby sister and she is really sweet with her now.
Bridger and Macie want to hold her all the time, which I don't let them do a whole lot, I let them hold her several times a day, but if they had it thier way, then one of them would hold her for about 30 seconds then pass her off for 30 seconds then want her back for about 30 seconds...and on and on.


She has a patch of blond hair on her head (by her neck)...we think it might be a birth mark. I think it is pretty cute!