My Michael

Why yes, that is Luke....with food in his mouth, as always, but really this post is about Michael. This kid has been SO cute lately! A few funnies with him lately.

We were at Costco and he wanted to get out of the cart.  I told him he could not get out and then he said, "Oh, can kids not walk in Costco?"  Call me a bad mom, but I totally went with this one.  "Yep, that's why they have these awesome big carts."  "Oh, do they get in trouble for getting out?"  "Yep" Not 5 minutes later some random alarm started going off in the store.  He said, "Oh no!  I think that sound is because a kid is out of the cart!  Let's look for him and tell him to get in the cart quick!"  Seriously trying so hard not to laugh, but definitely kept going with it.  "Ok, let's look."  Every cart, "It's not that kid.  They are in the cart. Not that kid...." etc. We found a kid 7ish that was walking.  Oh no!  There he is!"  He's been super good at Costco since. :)

I've been coaching personal prayers a little better, so we've been starting with things we are grateful for and some things we can ask for before we pray.  Tonight I asked Michael what he was grateful for and he said, "My box.  You, Mommy.  Daddy.  Luke.  But not Spencer, he cries alot. Sometimes sister."

Spencer started solids this week and we had some of those super dissolving puffs.  Michael had one in his hand about to eat it and Isabelle told Michael they were only for babies.  If he ate one, and he would turn back into a baby.  He asked me if it was true.  (Yep, the evil mom in me went with that one too.  I get so sick of the kids eating those things for the 2 weeks I buy them.)  Anyway, I agreed.  Isabelle giggled and said, "then why am I still big? I ate 2 of them." So I said it took a few days.  Tomorrow she would wake up only 5. He looked at me with the biggest scared eyes.  "I don't want to be 3 tomorrow.  I brought this over for Spencer, and he shoved it in Spencer's mouth."

He is NEVER sick.  The whole family gets things and it just completely skips him.  He will occasionally get a cold, but has never really been sick.  We got a stomach bug recently and Michael actually got it.  It was the WORST night I've ever had with a sick kid.  He was ridiculous, whiney, stubborn, and all sorts of other words.   I was unbelievably grateful that he rarely gets sick. We ended up sleeping together on the couch.  It was the better alternative to changing sheets all night.  The next day he was so sweet to me.  He was loving and kind and thoughtful. When it's just the two of us, he is so sweet. I love my "Michael moments."

Michael had the hiccups tonight.  He tried everything to get rid of them.  I told him sleep was the best option. Later he got out of bed and asked me to check his head. I asked why.  "I have a hiccup bug in my hair giving me the hiccups.  Will you get it out?"  I pretended to find something and told him it's gone.  Then he hiccuped again and told me there was another bug in there.  I pretended to find another one. After another hiccup, he decided that now that the bugs were gone, he could sleep and they would be gone in the morning.

I love kids!

Getting Out

We've been spending lots of time at parks lately. It's been a cold wet winter around here limiting our outdoor usage. It's been SO pretty finally! 

Mike's Vacation

Mike wanted to take the family to Utah for a ski trip in January.  This boy NEEDS snow. And he was pretty burned out at work. After looking at all the logistics I made a decision that he was welcome to go skiing alone and I'd hang out here in my hot Florida winter.  I DON'T need snow.  Haha!  Then this trip with his cousin and uncle came along and he decided to do it instead of skiing. He went with a group of 5 other guys. He had an absolute blast! 

He went to Antigua, Guatemala.  They spent their time at a resort, on a boat fishing all day, pool side by evening. The resort was all inclusive so even though he doesn't drink, he still tried to get his money's worth in lots of virgin drinks by the pool. 

Overlooking the city

The city square with the fountain and big church.

Mike and Alan catching fish.  These things are HUGE!

This was what he did in between reeling them in. 

Mike, Ricky, and Marcus

They had one day bumming around Guatemala City.  They went to the temple.

 And the MTC

 Flying out

He had a blast.  He had free WiFi at the resort so we got to Skype him most nights which was the only way I made it through our tough week. Definitely a perk I wasn't expecting. He came home tan, bearded, and relaxed. He works so hard for us and things at work with the merger have been crappy.  I'm so glad he was able to go and enjoy some time off! He definitely deserved it!

The Switch

Spencer only sucks his right thumb, it's changed this gum line on just that side.  Mike wants to try to get Spencer to use a paci instead.  This is proving to be tricky because the only times he sucks his thumb is in his bed or car seat. Apparently it's going....well.

My Sleeping Beauties

I find it ridiculous that my children can't share rooms. Isabelle and Spencer share, but the other two boys are just plain trouble.  Michael wakes everyone up way too early, Luke keeps everyone up. Isabelle goes with the flow, but needs LOTS of sleep. I have tried so many times and even give it a few weeks but finally throw in the towel for the sake of a happier home. Last weekend they were begging to have a sleep over.  So I let them.  Madness. Absolute madness until 10.  I figured I should see this through for the week of spring break to see if we can consolidate sleeping arrangements to two bedrooms. We are 5 nights in.  It is still a disaster.  Almost every night, someone ends up getting sent to their own bed. Even minus one from the equation, the remaining two still doesn't work. I think in the long run Michael will make the cut sharing the bed with Isabelle for a little while and we can finally keep the trundle mattress off our office floor. Toddlers are just trouble when it comes to bedtime.  And then there was a light at the end of the tunnel. So cute. 

Then there is this perfection.  If you have never had the pleasure of a thumb sucker, you are seriously missing out!  He loves to hold his little blanket in one hand and suck his thumb on the other and he falls right to sleep,  and for the most part stays asleep, or falls back to sleep quickly if he does wake up.  He's a full 12 hour sleeper at night with 3 good naps. He is loving spring break.  He hasn't gotten woken up from a single nap to be put in his car seat!

A Sad Day For Me

This happened last week.  All of my baby clothes are gone. I'm glad those clothes are going to someone that needs them.  I'm glad they've gotten so much use.  Mike is done having kids.  I'm done having kids.  4 is a great number. But I don't want to be done having babies.  I don't need to be pregnant again, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE babies!  Even when they scream for days on end (Spencer's had a rough 4 days for some reason not dairy related), I still want more babies.  The night before as I boxed them all up and set up the pick up time, I was so incredibly sad.  Looking at them all and thinking about all the memories I have with my sweet boys in those clothes, I got really emotional about it. Not that the clothes themselves are important, but the symbol of giving them away. The next day when the service missionary came and got the clothes, I was even more sad.  I was absolutely SHOCKED at how sad I was about it.  I was pretty mopey the whole day.  I felt empty.  Part of what I'm here to do, give tiny bodies to big spirits, is done.  Now on to the next part, raise them and teach them.

When talking to my friend about it, I realized that it's just like moving to a new place.  I'm so sad to move to the next phase and so happy at the same time.  In just a few short years all will be potty trained, no one in car seats, and all able to swim.  That will make life a whole new world to us!  I'm so happy that it all happened, and will miss beyond belief so many things, but I look ahead to happy years to come with new experiences and new adventures involving not near as much crying, poop, and spills and a ton more sleep!

We Survived Again

We survived this much shorter lice attack this time.  I definitely have learned my lesson! I let a few "lice prevention" tips slip and sure enough, I paid for it.   This was Isabelle's hair after I combed her hair one day.  It was HUGE!  She was in such good spirits.  When we found it again, she said, "Oh no! Not again!  Lice is SO BORING!"  Hahaha!  We smarted up this time with a head lamp and her nightly scriptures on the laptop in her bed for our nightly 2 hour check.  It was happier for all involved.  The other two boys would often join in and it was a fun little bed party. We keep her hair nice and dirty now, only pigtails and oddles of hair spray.  This time it was just a weekend experience, not a month long experience!

Oh Well....

I'm so behind on so many things.  If nothing out of the ordinary happens, I'm good.  I can mostly stay up on things, but throw in lice and puking and it just all falls apart.  So for now, I'm just putting these cute pictures of my boys, along with a quick story or two and forgetting I'm behind on lots of things.  

How is this boy 5 months old?!  I'm in denial.  He's still only 3 months, right?!  I keep squishing him in 0-3 month clothes and get confused that they look so small, then realize his 6-9 month stuff almost fits. Sad.  He's sitting, and moving around.  He's never in the same place I leave him.  I have piles of all the stuff he's outgrown to give away. It makes me a little sad, but overwhelmed with gratitude that they've gotten so much use. 

Michael isn't getting enough attention.  He mentioned he had lice this week on more than one occasion.  He would love to have me sit in his bed for 2 hours every night combing his hair.  This week as I try to put things back together, I want to ignore it all to spend time with him. 

The kids earned a dollar store trip a couple of weeks ago.  Luke cracks me up!  We walked in and he immediately found a ball.  Every time he found something else, I said he had to put the ball back.  The ball always won.  Isabelle got a hula hoop and he loved it! He earned another trip to the dollar store last week and the whole way there was saying he wanted a hula hoop.  We walked in and he got his hula hoop and carried it around until we found the balls.  After switching between 3 different balls, he finally decided on another ball.  Just as we got to the check out stand he looked at his ball and then stopped and made the funniest face.  And then he got the hula hoop again and sadly put his ball back.  

Saved by the Sisters!

Turns out Jill and I both had some Southwest funds that had to get used before April.  So we killed a few birds with one stone and Melanie and Jill came to thaw out from their winter homes and keep me company while Mike was gone.   Despite the fact that my bad week continued, we still had an absolute blast!  I would have been in tears every single day, had it not been for them!  

They flew in Wednesday afternoon. When I checked their flight it said it was coming in at 4:50 instead of 4:15.  So that's what time I was there.  Turns out they were mostly on time which meant we got stuck in rush hour traffic.  What should have been a 45 minute drive turned into almost 2 hours.  We had two very sad babies for most of that, added with my other children noises, dinner time, and we HAD to stop for gas, it made for a humorous situation which we were all very ready to get home from.  We got home quickly made dinner and then tried to get kids to bed.  It was too exciting having company, so we had another late night with kids running around, but we still sat around and visited and relaxed from a long day.

Nobody could leave Wesley alone.  He's 6 weeks and almost as big as Spencer.  But still so snuggly and learning to smile and SO adorable!

All my kids swarmed the baby. 

Thursday we went shopping.  My two big kids were at school, my friend took Luke for the day and it was just us and the babies.  So fun!  I can't remember the last time I went shopping for me! We hit up shoes first and all had a success.  Then we went to Panera Bread for lunch.  It was low 60's and windy, but not a cloud in the sky.  That's cold for us Floridians! I was freezing, they were in heaven.  We were the only ones eating outside. 

Then we did some clothes shopping and all got a few things.  The boys did this....How cute are they in green?!

Thursday went somewhat smoothly.  That's the day my blender started to die and my microwave died.  I came home to "The Note."  The one saying there was lice in Isabelle's class again.  She rattled off the names of 3 of her good friends that all got lice and all I could do was cringe.  And I found 2 eggs...awesome. We did take out for dinner so no one had to cook. It was awesome!

Even Spencer loved Wesley.  

That night we Skyped my mom. 

Friday we hit up the beach while Isabelle was at school.  It was 65 and windy still.  It was still nice to be at the beach, so relaxing. Us Floridians were on the chilly side.  Spencer is literally in my jacket.  Luke sat on my lap or in the wagon almost the entire time. 

Melanie and Jill came from single digit and teen temperatures.  They soaked up the sun.

Michael still ran around and played and enjoyed the time.  We can't wait for it to warm up just a titch!

Friday night we decided to go to Costco for some meandering and dinner all together.  Turns out Costco closes their food once a year for maintenance....yeah it was that night.  Of course.  So we ended up doing Chick fil a drive thru but ate in the car while we fed babies. 

Tummy Time together

Melanie has the Frozen soundtrack on her tablet.  She let the kids listen to it a few times.  Isabelle was loving it!  She sat at the table and just sang along.  It was so cute! 

Saturday morning Isabelle complained about lice itch again, just as Jake ran away.  We dropped of Melanie and Wesley.  We came home and Jill and I had planned on the children's museum, but Luke had a gross cough and we just wanted to visit more and both needed naps.  It was a gorgeous afternoon.  The kids played outside while Jill and I enjoyed hummus....lots of hummus. :) We took Jill to the airport that late afternoon.  Just as we pulled into the airport she got a text her flight was canceled.  So I sat in the cell phone lot for her to figure everything out.  I picked her back up and she came home for an extra night. :)  This actually worked out great for me because Mike flew into the Orlando airport late that night.  I was going to have to drive all the kids at 8:30 down to Orlando and back.  Jill held down the fort for me and everyone got lots of sleep!  Yay! Jill made it home Sunday.  

Some funnies from the week.  Michael could NEVER remember Melanie's name. He was constantly asking her or us what her name was. And he calls her Meldy.  Wesley wore Spencer's clothes the entire time he was here.  Michael kept getting confused.  "Which baby is that?"  It was SO funny! Luke was obsessed with Wesley, he kept asking for "the other baby."

It's always fun to get together as sisters.  This was not a true sister's weekend for us with all my kids around. I found myself a little stressed because I still had to be a mom with food, homework, and bedtimes, but they jumped in a helped A TON!  My kids got to know them better. All in all it was awesome to just be together.  I love family!!!

Funny-ish Week

Mike went on a pretty awesome fishing trip to Guatemala last week.  (future real post when I download his camera).  He left for Salt Lake a week ago Friday for a day and then flew out with the group he was going with.  He made it home Sunday at 2 am.  While he was gone, we had a pretty rough week, to the point, it's just plain funny how many things went bad! Funny now. :) 

The first day he left, was last Friday, so I already posted some of the bad things that happened.  But here's the list:

• Isabelle "learned' how to take swallow pills.  The first dose (which was a 2 hour event) ended in a throw up situation all over my living room at 10:00 pm...There is a reason kids go to bed hours before their parents.  A little decompression time alone is nice.  She ended up in my bed that night.  She got much better, but it was still a dreaded "event" twice daily for 3 days.
• My back went out twice
• Luke had a horrible fever for a few days and was super whiny and wanted to be rocked and held constantly. 
• Spencer started cutting his 2 bottom teeth, so he too was whiny and wanted to be rocked and held constantly.
• Remember that back situation?  Hard to carry whiny and wanted to be rocked and held kids.
• For real legitimate reasons, there was a child in my bed every night.
• My microwave blew up, literally a ball of smoke. 
• My blender started to smell.  You have no idea how much I use that thing, oh, and I bought it in MAY.
• One night everyone but Michael was up, and crying no less, until after 10. 
• There was more than one moment that lots of us were crying.
• And the kicker...Isabelle got lice again from school.  AGAIN. You read that correctly.  LICE AGAIN!

But when you get a picture like this and see a smile like this, you can't help but laugh and say, I'm glad he's having alot of fun!  Hahaha!