10

10. Yesterday morning at the breakfast table Gwyneth asked her brothers if they liked to shake their buns. To which they both replied a hearty "yes!", and proceeded to demonstrate. Gwyneth, appalled at their lack of talent, interrupted to show them how it is really done, in circles, not back and forth.
I'm not making any of this up.
And I have no idea how this morbid fascination with buns originated.

9. Heidi called Sunday night from Arizona.
In the midst of a snow storm.
That made my day.
My whole week, really.
Serves her right for going on 2 awesome trips every year.
And leaving me here.

8. Camden gets to be a disciple in the Easter program. Judas.
Fitting. He might just have enough traitor in him to refuse reciting his lines. Should be interesting.

7. Is it normal to have to refill both bird feeders every 24 hours? This could get spendy. You should see the amount of birds we have, not including the 24 quail.

6. Adah woke me up twice last night. She got in the habit during her 5 week battle with the monster cold. Guess it's time to get mean. It's bound to be harder on me than her, I know.

5. It's official. I can no longer keep up on my housework. I can no longer do any housework. During Adah's first nap we do class time. During Adah's second nap Camden does his school. No more time for housework. Or anything else.

4. I had a panic attack the other day when I realized that next year at this time the only one of my children taking a nap will be Adah. And 3 of them will be learning how to read. Heaven help me. How am I gonna stay sane?

3. Jude's been smirking at me every time he gets in trouble for something. Never had that happen with any of the others. It's so maddening! Can't wait for those teen years...

2. I'm really excited about the Secret Mother/Daughter program at church. Gwyneth doesn't quite understand it yet, but loves the idea of getting new spoils every week. The boys are beyond jealous. I'm thinking someone needs to come up with something similar where the boys are getting ministered to as well. Any ideas?

1. I'm making breakfast for dinner. My favorite! But I don't have huckleberries for the pancakes. Guess we'll have to settle for mixed berries and whipped cream. Mmmmmm....

a mother's darkest day

the day her first-born son will no longer except a kiss without squirming away, promptly erasing every trace and proclaiming, "Kisses are yucky!"

"Who told you that?"

"Uncle Lance."

Needless to say, Uncle Lance, you are now at the top of my hit list.

well baby

Adah
9 months

16 and a half lbs. (12th percentile)
head 17.5" (60th percentile)
length 29" (90th percentile)

Yesterday Adah had her first well-baby check-up since she was new.
We haven't ever taken her in because she is our first baby who actually is well! (:
With Camden it was the plagiocephaly.
Jude had extreme eczema/infections/malnutrition issues.
And Gwyneth with her Brown's Syndrome. Not to be confused with Downs Syndrome.
We learned quickly to enunciate that one very, very clearly.

But Adah has been a dream in every way.
It is such a relief to not have some major problem to worry over.

She hasn't gained any weight in over 6 months.
Not normal, but she is still very healthy. Just small.
Strange.
We've never had a small baby before! (:
She was by far the biggest at birth.

She has quite a large hemangioma on her back, next to her spine.
Not pretty.
Every other doctor has said it'll be gone by her first birthday.
Yesterday we were told not to expect it to be gone until her 4th birthday.
I'm so thankful, for Adah, that it's not on her face.

She is now bearing weight on her legs, thanks to a lot of patience on Daddy's behalf.
And most likely is just too laid back to really care enough to try, or so the Dr. says.

"What words does she understand?" the doctor asked.
"All of them." I replied.
She couldn't believe the list of vocabulary words I rattled off.
She said she has never seen such a young baby with such a large vocabulary.
And then she repeated herself. Two more times.

Then she asked, "What has she eaten so far today?"
She stopped me half way through the list to tell me she couldn't believe she ate that much, never moved, and is still so tiny.

Lucky girl.

And then Adah got quite the compliment when the doctor told her she needed to take samples so that she could be genetically reproduced. Creepy concept. But sweet non-the-less.(:

We are so thankful all is well with our little angel!

today

i spilled my entire latte.
not a drop was spared.

i forgot to eat breakfast

i ruined both of the boys' winter coats in the wash.
even though i followed the care instructions,
using extra caution.

i baked bread.
the 4th loaf this week.
it fell.

i talked to my mom on the phone.

i forgot to eat lunch.

i spent 20 minutes meticulously coloring Larry Boy
for a very particular critic and his big brother who pointed out every minute mistake.

gwyneth, in tears, asked me why i never call her sissy anymore.

i didn't talk to lyle on the phone.

i decided, on a whim, to let Jude and Gwyneth skip their nap.
i will live to regret it, i'm sure.

i devoured the leftover cookie dough in the fridge.

i lovingly {yes, lovingly} scrubbed 14 pairs of shoes.

the kids had a make-believe beach party.

gwyneth got the runs. again.
and again.
right after she peed in her new swimsuit.

i drained an entire squirt bottle-full of water in the bathroom drawer.

adah gave me her very first kisses.

from the mouths of babes

My favorites this week include;

Camden
"Does Optimus Prime love God?"
If only all their questions were this easy to answer.

And

Jude
"Do Kix sometimes have legs?"
Think about it for a minute.

Gwyneth pronounces fudge as "sludge"

Camden thinks hiccups are called "the make-ups"

And Adah now has a vocabulary of approximately 10 words.
But she can understand virtually everything you tell her.
Her ability to communicate is astounding.
I realized just yesterday that she has her own word for Jude.
Whenever he enters the room she lights up and says something similar to "B-you!"
She just adores him.

the girl loves food

Our best eater yet, except when it comes to squash and bananas.
Despite her appetite she is turning into quite the petite little thing.
Just as tiny and as happy as can be.

food

*We go through at least 3 loaves of Milton's 12 grain bread every 2 weeks, 2 Costco sized loaves. I'm planning on starting to bake all of our bread. Wish me luck!

*1 large box of Cheerios, monthly

*Adah consumes 1 box of multi-grain baby cereal and at least 35 containers of baby food each pay day. (about 3 a day) And also eats whatever she can of our meals, diced.

*We spend about $30 a month on diapers. That number reached nearly $100 when we had 3 in diapers...for 2 years! Yipes.

*It takes us 1 month to go through a gallon of blue cheese dressing. Don't judge!

* And along with all that dressing?
a costco size bag of broccoli,
a costco size bag of carrots,
a costco size bag of Romain,
a costco size container of cherry tomatoes,
a costco size bag of snap peas,
a costco size bag of baby bell peppers,
each payday.
+ whatever else is in season, we love asparagus & green beans.

*Until I weaned the kids off their sippy cups a couple of months ago we made it through 5-7 gallons of milk every 2 weeks.
Now? 1-2
Huh.

*Fruit;
1 costco size container of blueberries in a matter of hours
(Jude and Mama's favorite!)
costco strawberries, kiwi, cuties, bananas, pineapple, grapes, raspberries, cherries, and pretty much 1 of whatever else they have in season...every pay day. And I try to get something new for the kids to try each pay day such as papaya, a coconut, pomegranate, mango, star fruit, or passion fruit, etc. (note; we only ever make it to costco about once a month, the rest of the time I just have to buy that much quantity, or we go hungry!)

*the kids eat, on average, 1/2 an apple apiece every day during the winter. Camden usually can eat 1-2 on his own daily. They're his favorite. My grandparents go to Wanatchee every fall and bring us back boxes and boxes, never charge us, and then store them in their garage for us to use as we need them.

*1 bag of costco chicken every 2 weeks

*20 lbs (?) of hamburger every month

*we have steak once a week

*I never buy...
nuts (Jude's allergic),
seafood (gag.),
mac and cheese
(though aunt Heidi makes a special lunch of it for the kids every week or two),
any kind of breaded chicken,
hot dogs,
corn dogs
or sugary cereals.

*Snacks usually consist of fruit and crackers; graham, or occasionally animal, fishies, or likewise.
I try to limit myself to 2 items from the snack aisle each pay day.

*I usually bake about twice a week

*I try to buy only un-bleached or whole grain flour and sugar.

*We've been known to make it through a 12 pack of soda in 3 days. We try to not always have it around, but somehow my husband just can't stop bringing it home! It's probably our very biggest downfall. The kids are hardly ever allowed soda, except at birthday parties.

*Sour cream is another of our loves. It's not hard for us to go through 2 large containers each payday. Especially when I'm making lots of casseroles. Lately we've been trying to have a grilled meat and side of veggies each night, so our sour cream consumption has gone WAY down.

*It seems we go through about 18 eggs each payday. I'd like to eat more.

* We (not including Daddy) LOVE beans. We're always stocked up on kidney, garbanzo and black. We use them in soups, salads or straight outta the can!

*Yes. I admit it. I try to limit myself to 1 latte each week. It's a work in progress! I also no longer allow myself any coffee creamers because I cannot stay out of them!