I might be serious...

A while ago Dallin was curious about the logistics of errand-running with a new baby. He asked about strollers, fitting baby and Nate into a grocery cart, carseat arrangements, etc.

"Oh," said I, "when we have baby five, we won't be leaving the house ever again."

His eyes widened. "But how will we get food?"

"I guess your dad will have to go shopping."

Apparently this far-fetched solution clued him into my facetiousness. He shook his head as a grin crept onto his face. "Nooo...you're just teasing me. Dad can't go shopping because he has to work! We actually will leave the house."

We'll see.

A Good Day

Yesterday I spent the entire day preparing for the Relief Society picnic (which came off very well, I think) and expected the kids to basically take care of each other. To make up for that, and to reward them for doing such a good job being ignored by me, I declared today "No Chore Day".

I am thrilled that this announcement was met with cheers. That must mean that our chores are routine and effective enough that their absence is something to celebrate.

I added that they did still have to dress and brush their teeth. Dallin piped up, "And make our beds." He offered, so I accepted. Sure, and make your beds.

Then we started deciding what activities we would do. After ruling out anything in Salt Lake, anything with water (we're swimming tomorrow already), and clarifying that, yes, we were doing things together, so, no, you're not staying home with your iTouch...after all that we planned:

• a picnic at the playground with cousins
• a trip to the PERC (a place at the library that loans games and educational activities)
• a visit to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point
• attending tonight's animal show at the Monte Bean Science Museum

Ambitious, aren't we? Might as well pack it in, I guess.

Here's the best thing, now that I'm near the end of the festivities--we had fun, even those who initially complained! They played together, I didn't go into labor, there was only one wet accident, and only one bloody nose. Additionally, I witnessed the following happy sibling interactions:

"I'll figure out the instructions for that game and play it with you."

"Hey, come work with me on brushing this part of the fossil."

"I think Nate would love this."

"I'll take care of the boys while you take Jamie Beth to the bathroom."

"Nate, chase me!"

You can see why I had to document such a good day as this.

Remember that old Shel Silverstein poem?

Lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy Cissy.
She wants to upload her photos.
So she waits and waits and waits and waits and waits...
For Matt to do it instead.

Or something like that.

~sigh~Someday I'll blog again.

Me, pregnant, 17 weeks...

You don't need a picture, because I'm going to paint one for you:

The constant nausea is gone now, has been for about three weeks. (Yet the house looks just as bad as it did during those weeks I spent most of my time on the couch.)

Just exhaustion, lethargy, inability to style my hair beyond the ponytail. I don't remember being so useless at this point in previous pregnancies. Have I forgotten? Or am I getting old? Never had a baby in my 30's, after all. Or maybe it's Nate's fault. Never had to chase the likes of him around during a pregnancy.

I could be tired because I have vivid nightmares all night, every night. I'm trying Unisom with so-so success; I'm trying to read light, sweet, sentimental books, and I won't watch "Chuck" with Matt. I have to gear up for "Lost" and then fill my head with happy thoughts or sappy movies. I am nervous to sleep, even nap.

I always want to know, what can I eat next? What will satisfy me? It's not about craving, exactly; more like finding the absolutely perfect food for this moment. Sometimes it's been grapefruit or fresh mozzarella. Mostly it's been Wendy's Frostys. Or Ramen Noodles. Yikes--poor baby. When all else fails, I'm eating up to three or four bowls of (healthy) cereal with frozen raspberries on top. I feel proud about that because it's low in sugar and fortified with lots of vitamins.

I'm terrible about taking actual pre-natal vitamins.

I'm gaining weight--probably due to the Frostys more than the baby. I'm employing the rubberband trick on my regular jeans, or trying to hold up the stylish belly-banded maternity pants that just don't quite fit yet. Honestly, I like the old-fashioned full-paneled deals, but I'm still in-between, in-between, too big for this, yet too small for that. I like Sundays when I can wear empire-waist dresses.

I love feeling baby move. For the past couple weeks, I occasionally found myself holding perfectly motionless, focusing on any slight movement. Even though I've done this four times before, I still love the magic, the miracle.

To be continued...maybe with a real photo, maybe even before I have the baby.

Not fair.

"Tomorrow Dad will take you to the BYU football practice. Won't that be fun?"

Nate's eyes lit up and his mouth formed an awestruck o. "I pway football with Dad?"

"No," I explained, "you get to watch the football players play."

His eyebrows immediately crinkled into a frown as he informed me, "I not want to watch football. I want to pway with Dad."

"It's not on TV. You have to drive there and sit on the chairs and watch." (Anyone guess the mistake in that sentence? Here it is...)

His face lit up again. "I dwive there?"

"Well, Dad will drive you there."

"I dwive. I'm a good helper. I dwive fast wike this"--he demonstrated with his hands at about 9 and 3--"Wike a wace car."

"Mmmm...I think we'll wait until you're a little older first."

Nate's race car hands dropped in exasperation. "Awwww! Why I have to be a wittle kid?"

New York, New York

So I'm off in a few days to visit my sister in New York City. I have been there before and done the usual tourist stuff: climbed the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, seen Les Miserables on Broadway, visited the UN. I have a short list of things to do, but I want suggestions of must-see and must-eat locations.

Here's my ambitious plan:

--Metropolitan Museum of Art

--get cheap, last-minute tickets to "Wicked"

--some historic home (ideas?)

--eat real Italian food

--order an excellent sandwich at a non-chain delicatessen

--eat authentic New York pizza

--visit Purl Soho

--see the WTC site/memorial

--see the Manhattan Temple

--visit a local bookstore

--bring something home...but what? I'm not a name-brand gal, not the tourist t-shirt type.

You see, I learned last year on my trip to D.C. that I can go to an astonishing number of places when I have no kids with me. Ideally, I would love to have about half of the kids along so I can share the world with them; since that's not possible in this case, I'll just efficiently jet around and take pictures for them. And bring them a book...I always bring a book.

Now, friends and family, bring on the suggestions. Also pray the plane doesn't crash, because I always worry about that. Of course.

Winter Highlights

Quick, before it's officially spring, here's a summary of what our family has been up to this winter. (Alternate title: I'm Not So Good at Keeping Up the Blog)

Jamie Beth's review for her dance class. She's looking forward to the fancy spring recital in May, when she will wear a costume.

Christmas Eve bowling is a family tradition.

I beat Matt for the first time! That is to say, he was too tired to play at all.

Christmas nativity program with cousins. (Note the shepherd with the handcuffs.) This was just the beginning of a first-time-ever huge family sleepover at Matt's parents' home--16 adults and 20 grandchildren all crammed in together. Eighteen-year-old sister Cassie has lamented for years that she's never had all her siblings sleeping in the same house for Christmas Eve. So, she worked for months to get everyone's commitment, then she made bedroom arrangements, seating arrangements, and even slept at the foot of the stairs to prevent little ones from pre-empting the party.

Christmas morning was so fun. Our kids were excited and surprised enough to satisfy me and Matt. Santa brought each one a book, an outfit, an activity/game, and something they really wanted: Matthew--an iPod Touch (his first technology gift!), Jamie Beth--a dollhouse that Santa spent hours putting together, Dallin--a remote control truck, and Nate--a mini-trampoline. Later, they also opened gifts from me and Matt, Papa and Nana, and cousins.

Some of the chaos. I couldn't even fit it all into one picture.

Very happy boy. Using the rationale that "Santa always brings me one thing off my list", he put only two things on his list.

Posing at home in front of our own tree.


Jamie Beth's 7th birthday in January. She is worried that Nate will steal her privilege. Luckily Matt whisked him out of the way.

Content with her gifts as she answers one of many birthday calls.

All she really wanted was pierced ears.

A week or so later, Jamie Beth celebrated her birthday with an "elegant lunch--please wear your favorite fancy outfit." The activities included dancing...

...decorating the table...

...eating a dainty lunch...

...and making bead jewelry.

As part of a fifth-grade program, Matthew had to create a display and a report on a state. We both learned a lot as we both slaved over the project. Honestly, though, he did at least 90% of the work.

The end of January brought our annual cabin retreat...four days with, again, the whole big family. Plenty of eating, sleeping, and chatting; lots of movies and food; and of course skiing/snowboarding.

Jamie Beth absolutely loves skiing--with an instructor. This was her third year.

Hitting the target age of five meant that Dallin was enrolled in lessons for the very first time. He now claims to have loved it, though every time I passed him that day, he collapsed on the ground and said he was too cold. Despite this, his instructor said Dallin did a great job for a first-timer. That is the exact reason I pay for lessons instead of teaching the kids myself--they perform for others, while they complain for me.
*Matthew snowboarded again this year, but since he takes off far before I get to the lift, I have no pictures of him. Rest assured, he is practically pro. I know, because he told me.

Back at the cabin, Dallin hardly ever let go of the laser tag gun. The game was a constant throughout the weekend. For an even better representation of Dallin's love of the game (along with his twin-cousin), you have to see this photo my sister-in-law took.

Occasionally, the five little tykes (all born within one year) stopped moving and settled down to a movie.

And, they were bathed and pampered by their older cousins...

Now that I've gotten this far, I wish I had more pictures of the cabin...of some adults, for instance. (Eden, that's your job, and then I'll just link.) And then, I'm realizing that Winter Highlights ought to include February. Hmmmm, maybe in another month I'll get to that.